Broken
by thathiddenone
Summary: Will the nightmares of a broken girl end? Will the lifetime dreams of a young girl change all because of one person?
1. Chapter 1

The forest was silent, unnaturally so. All the sounds and movement of its nocturnal inhabitants were missing, and the shattered crescent moon shown down on a forest that seemed much more menacing than normal. It almost looked like a photo except for the slight breeze stirring the leaves.

The snapping twig sounded like a gunshot. A shadow shifted and stood, peering around with blood-red eyes. A hacking cough alerted its companions and quickly more shadows gathered together. The pack of beowolves grumbled and growled, staring into the darkness for the source of the sound. Waiting to see what foolish creature would approach them in their territory.

There. A flash of color in the dark woods. The Grimm stood mesmerized as a yellow will-o-wisp danced its way towards them. Watching it closely, they stood frozen until the dull clank of metal reached their ears and the will-o-wisp took on a decidedly more violent pose. Snarling, the beowolves leapt forwards, intent of destroying it before it reached them. It was already too late. A whine as a new black shadow slashed into a leg, a screech as a flash of white stabbed through a packmate's eye, a final gasp as a floating red figure sliced through a neck. The pack leader stumbled and fell after a strike from the will-o-wisp shattered its facial bones. A growl died in its throat as it watched the four streaks of colors come together and start celebrating its packs demise. Darkness was creeping into its sight, so the beowolf felt more than saw the approach of one older than itself. Feeling the numbing burn as its body began to disappear, it let out a barking laugh.

The last thing it saw was the four colors turning toward it, and the ghostly glow of a death stalker's tail.

* * *

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Weiss crumpled to the ground, staring up at the death stalker. Myrtenaster lay loosely in her hand, sticky and dark red. Her white dress was ruined: even if the dirt and blood washed out, the countless tears and cuts couldn't be repaired. Idly, Weiss wondered if she should invest in something a bit more battle-oriented for her outfits but the thought went unfinished. She could hear the cries of her teammates, Yang swearing at the Grimm and Blake yelling at her to move, though they sounded like they were underwater. Her eyes never left the tip of the death stalker's tail slowly bobbing above her head. Something was wrong. The normally golden stinger was too dark, and misshapen. Unnatural lumps stuck off it at odd angles, shifting each time the tail moved. The tail was dripping, and Weiss lifted her hand to look at the red drops that fell on her. Red. The stinger was wrapped in red. A horribly wail filled the forest, and the Weiss realized she was the source.

Staring up at the lifeless body of her partner, Weiss screamed.

* * *

Weiss jerked forward, mouth open in a silent scream. Jerking her head, she frantically looked around for the Grimm. The RWBY dorm room calmly greeted her panic, the only sound the quiet snores coming from Yang's buck. Stifling a sob, Weiss slowly stood to look into the bed above her. Vision blurring, she rubbed at her eyes as she gazed at the small dark-haired girl sleeping peacefully and sighed in relief when the girl shifted and let out a soft snore. Sliding back into her bed, Weiss wrapped her arms around herself and tried to calm down her racing heart.

"It was just a dream," she whispered to herself, staring up at the bed hanging above her. "It was just a dream." The bed swung slowly and Weiss' eyes hardened. "I won't let anything happen to her."


	2. Chapter 2

"Weiss."

"Mmph."

"Weisssss."

"Gurmph."

"Weiss, you gotta get up," shaking her partner, Ruby smiled when one icy eye opened to glare at her. "Up, Weiss! It's time to greet the day!" Incoherent grumblings met her cheery greeting, but Weiss started to move. Sitting up slowly, she yawned loudly as her blankets tumbled onto the bed. Blinking, Ruby stared blankly at the smooth pale skin the blankets had been covering. A strong collarbone stood out against the perfect skin, and Ruby's eyes followed it from the uncovered shoulder to the small hollow under her chin. Drifting down, silver eyes memorized where the smooth flesh spread into two small mounds, one just barely revealing a perky, pink-

"Mmph, Ruby...?" Weiss tried to blink away the sleep from her eyes, looking oddly at Ruby as she pulled Weiss' pajamas back into its rightful place. Cheeks pink, Ruby smiled and jumped away from the bed.

"It's almost time for breakfast, Weiss," Ruby pointed at the empty bunks behind her. "Yang and Blake already left, so if you don't want to skip breakfast you should hurry and get ready." Eyes widening, Weiss shot into the bathroom and started getting ready. With so little time a shower was out of the question, but that didn't mean the she'd let herself look bad.

Ruby sat on the edge of Weiss' bed, kicking her feet out as she waited for her partner. The whole morning had been weird. Normally Weiss was already up when the alarm went off, usually ready to berate Yang's slow morning habits. But instead all three of them had been able to get ready before Weiss had even woke up. Yang had laughed and joked that maybe the ice princess had frozen in her sleep. The sound of the bathroom door brought her back to the present, and Ruby looked her partner over. Nothing seemed unusual.

"Come on, you dolt. You were the one saying that we had to go." Ruby grinned. Yep, same Weiss as always.

"Whatever you say, Princess." Ruby jumped up and followed the glaring heiress out of the room. Even if she was angry, Weiss slowed her pace to match Ruby's and Ruby watched her out of the corner of her eye as they headed for the cafeteria. Smiling, Ruby's nose twitched at the slightly sweet scent coming from her partner. Leaning closer, she tried to place it. Soap? Perfume? Neither seemed right.

Her musings were broken when they arrived at the cafeteria. Jaune waved them over to team JNPR's table and soon she had forgotten the morning's oddities. Mostly. A slight blush crossed her face when Weiss stretched her arms behind her and yawned softly.

"Tired, Weiss?" Weiss glanced up to see Pyrrha looking at her across the table.

"A little. I didn't have the most restful sleep last night," frowning slightly, Weiss pushed all thoughts of her nightmare away. Ruby leaned close, lowering her voice.

"Is that why you slept through the alarm?"

"Yes, but it's nothing to worry about," standing suddenly, Weiss ignored Ruby's worried look. "I'm going to class. You should hurry up, Ruby."

The rest of table watched as the heiress briskly walked out the door. Glancing at the clock, Pyrrha jumped up. "Unless we want to be late, we should go!" Chairs clattered as the five friends rushed to start the school day.

* * *

Ruby sighed. Today hadn't been a good day. She'd barely made it to class, slamming into her chair with a burst of rose petals. Too bad that Professor Port's lecture devolved into another boring story of him slaying Grimm by the handful. Yawning, she tried to stay awake by doodling but that only held off her drowsiness for a short while. Figuring Weiss would wake her up if needed, she let her eyes close. A sudden bang woke her with a jolt, looking sheepishly up at the professor. Glancing at her partner next to her, Ruby realized that Weiss was making the same face as her. They'd both managed to fall asleep. A muffled laugh from Yang and a small puddle of drool on her notes told her that they hadn't be very subtle.

The two of them spent their lunch hour listening to Professor Port tell them all about the importance of being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, even in class, because they never knew when a Grimm could pop up and attack. The lecture took up the entire break and forced them to run to their next class to avoid being late.

Missing lunch wouldn't have been too big of a deal if they had eaten a good breakfast. And if they didn't have combat class right after lunch. A mix of hunger, tiredness, and grumpiness led to their worst practice ever. From forgetting to call out their attacks to running into each other while dodging to tripping Weiss with Crescent Rose, it seemed that Ruby could do nothing right. Weiss wasn't doing much better, yelling at Ruby's every mistake and acting as cruel and cold as she had the first week of classes. Professor Goodwitch eventually told them the sit the rest of the class out, frowning as the partners sat down and looked everywhere except at each other.

Dinner was a sullen affair. Blake and Yang tried to cheer them up, but even Yang's horrible puns weren't getting a reaction. Weiss barely touched her food, taking care to not look in Ruby's direction. A few uncomfortable minutes passed before Weiss gave up and left, claiming that she was going to go study. Ruby sunk lower in her chair, looking a lot like a kicked puppy. Sharing a look, Yang jumped into the chair next to Ruby and Blake headed for the back of the cafeteria.

"Don't worry about it, Ruby," Yang leaned over to give her sister's shoulder a squeeze. "The Ice Queen's just being grumpy. It'll be better tomorrow." Blake returned, silently sliding a big cookie into Ruby's hands.

"... Don't call her that," Ruby mumbled through her cookie. Yang and Blake smiled at each other. If Ruby could complain about her partner's nickname, then she wasn't really mad. A good night's sleep would fix everything.

It would all be better tomorrow.

* * *

Hours later, the school was silent. All were asleep, except for one room's occupants.

The room was dark, the only light source the open windows. The moonlight barely illuminated the desk and chair in the middle of the room, and the room's two inhabitants.

Shifting position, Glynda looked at the back of the chair in front of her. It had been a full ten minutes since she arrived, but the only words that had been said were normal greetings. The silence was broken by a squeak from the chair.

"Glynda... I need you to do something for me." She nodded.

"Whatever you need, sir."

"I need you to call her," Glynda grimaced and opened her mouth to speak, but Ozpin continued. "I know your relationship with her is... tenuous at best, but we don't have a choice. To survive the coming storm, our students need to learn from the best. And she is the best."

"But-" Glynda closed her mouth. Setting aside personal feelings, she knew it was useless to argue against facts. "Very well. I'll contact her, and have her come as soon as possible. But I do want to point out that I think this is a bad idea. She's not exactly a 'team player'." A small smile crossed Ozpin's lips.

"Noted. But, I could say the same thing about you," a raised hand silenced Glynda's vehement response. "It may be difficult, but with the two of you working together to teach our students I don't doubt that they'll be ready for anything our enemies throw at them." A jerky nod was the only response, and the sound of heels on stone filled the room as she stalked out to fulfill her order. Ozpin took a sip from his mug, eyes never leaving the full moon hanging in the sky.

* * *

A/N: Instead of sleeping, I ended up writing this. I think I need to figure out a schedule, otherwise my demented mind will try to talk me into staying up and spending every night writing.


	3. Chapter 3

It didn't get better.

The next day had started with an empty bunk below Ruby and no sign of the heiress. It wasn't that she had completely disappeared though: in class Weiss sat in her seat next to Ruby like normal, and flashes of white could be seen hurrying through the halls, but it seemed like no matter what Ruby did she couldn't talk to her partner. Passing her notes in class, following her when class ended, even jumping out at her in the hallway, nothing worked. As soon as Ruby opened her mouth, Weiss would rush away. The apology she had prepared that morning turned into saying she'd made a mistake by lunch, and by dinner she was ready to scream. Stabbing her dinner angrily, Ruby tried to pay attention to her friends at the table. Team JNPR was doing their best to cheer her up, and Yang and Blake sat on either side of her, two solid columns of support.

"I'm sure you'll be able to talk soon," Jaune grinned at Ruby, missing the subtle head shake from Yang. "Sure, Weiss didn't show up for dinner tonight, but tomorrow will be better." Ruby smiled back at him, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Thanks, Jaune. I'm sure tomorrow will be better."

* * *

"Three days. It's been three days, Yang," Ruby's voice was muffled as she spoke, but she didn't bother lifted her head from her pillow. Looking at her listless sister laying in bed, Yang frowned. "It's official: she hates me."

"Just because you haven't spoken to her, or spent time outside if class with her, or haven't really seen her-" Yang quickly ended that train of thought. "It doesn't mean Weiss hates you." No response. Yang glanced at Blake, pleading for help.

"How about we go talk to her for you, Ruby?" Blake closed her book and stood, hooking her arm through Yang's. The cloak-wearing girl's nod was slight, but it was enough. The two older girls headed out, closing the door softly.

"Okay, so when we find her do you want to hold her while I rip the icicle out of her ass, or would you like the honors?" Yang grinned to show she was joking, but Blake didn't miss the flash of red in her eyes. Motioning that they should head to the library first, she let the blonde brawler vent. She knew how hard the past few days had been on her partner; watching Ruby suffer without being able to do anything was seriously stressing Yang out. Blake bumped her shoulder into Yang's and smiled slightly when Yang grinned back at her. A few minutes of peaceful silence passed while they finished their walk and marched into Beacon's library.

The library was huge, but its dark and muted colors made searching for their missing teammate easy. All they had to do was locate the splash of white, which usually could be found sitting at one of the long tables near the walls. Less than a minute passed before Blake pulled Yang's sleeve, pointing to the far corner. Partly hidden behind a mountain of books, a white ponytail slowly bobbed up and down. Stalking over, careful to stay quiet as to not upset the librarian, they moved to stand on either side of their target. Yang opened her mouth to yell, but one look at the heiress killed whatever she had planned on saying.

"Weiss, you look terrible." Weiss glared up at Yang, dark bags under her eyes standing out against her pale skin. Her hair and clothes were spotless as usual, but seemed to be missing a bit of their normal crispness. Her icy mask slipped, and she cocked an eyebrow at Yang's slack-jaw expression. But as soon as it happened, the mask reformed and Weiss returned to her normal expression.

"Do you need something, or did you just come here to bother me?" Yang blinked, remembering the why she was there, and leaned over the table.

"You need to stop ignoring your partner," she punctuacted her words with a poke to Weiss' forehead. "I don't know why you two are fighting, and I don't care. Knock it off and talk."

"We're not fighting," leaning back in her chair, Weiss escaped the poking finger. "We're just not talking at the moment."

"Yeah, that's not gonna cut it. You're going to go right now and talk to Ruby." Weiss' shoulders slumped.

"I can't. Not right now, at least," she opened her mouth to continue, but closed it immediately. Blake glanced at the piles of books the heiress had gathered: mostly books on Grimm and fighting Grimm, but there were also a number on dreams and understanding them.

"Weiss, what's going on with you?" Weiss looked up into concerned amber eyes.

"I... haven't been sleeping well," standing quickly, she moved to escape her two teammates. "That's all I want to say on the matter. I'll be fine, I just need more time alone."

"Nope," Yang grabbed a pale arm, stopping her escape. A small grin rested on the blonde's face.

"'Nope'?"

"Nope." Shifting her grip, Yang lifted her white teammate off the floor and onto her shoulder. An upset shriek made the grin wider, and Yang took off, racing out of the library and toward the dorms. She didn't need to look to know that her faunus partner was keeping pace next to her, most likely trying not to smile at how ridiculous they must look to passerbys.

It didn't take long to reach their room. Kicking the door open, Yang chucked the still shrieking Weiss onto a surprised Ruby. Waving at them, she slammed the door shut and leaned back, holding the door shut. The noise alerted their nearby neighbors, and Blake moved away to explain the situation to a very confused team JNPR.

"Talk, you two," Yang grinned at the sound of complaints. "I'm not letting you two out until you've settled everything." Listening through the door, she could just barely make out muted voices. Minutes passed and the sounds quieted. Yang smiled at a job well done. Now all she had to do was wait until Ruby told her everything was okay. Finished with her conversation with their friends, Blake took her place next to Yang. Her bow twitched slightly, and she looked at the door.

"How's it going?" Yang gave her a thumbs up.

"Perfect! They've really quieted down, so I bet it won't be long before we can let them out."

"Mhmm. And you made sure that the window was locked, right?" The grin froze and slid off Yang's face. Opening the door, she stepped into an empty room. Staring at the open window, her eyes flashed red. Blake sighed as Yang threw her upper body out the window.

"RUBY! WEISS! GET YOUR ASSES BACK HERE!"

* * *

Ruby shivered. The distance made understanding the words impossible, but there was no denying that the angry yell had definitely come from her older sister. Glancing at the girl running beside her, it was obvious that Weiss had also realized that there'd be hell to pay when they went back. Slowing down her mad dash, Ruby looked around and pointed toward a bench under a tree nearby. Nodding silently, Weiss followed her to the seat, hidden from the school's view by a few large rose bushes. Plopping down, Ruby let out a sigh of relief. Carefully sitting on the opposite end of the bench, Weiss let her tense shoulders relax.

"So, how mad do you think Yang is? On a scale of one to ten."

"A scale of one to ten? At least a twelve," Ruby giggled at the response.

"Aw, it can't be that bad. By the time we go back, Blake will have calmed her down to at least an eight," looking at each other, they smiled before Weiss quickly turned away. The smile fell from Ruby's face. "I give up. I'm sorry Weiss, what did I do to make you hate me?" Weiss' head whipped around to face her partner, mouth hanging open.

"I don't hate you, Ruby. Just the opposite, I-" Weiss bit back her words, wringing her hands together while she thought of how to explain. "You're the best partner, the best leader, I could have hoped for. And I want to be the best partner you could want, but lately I just... I just..." Ruby sat perfectly still, waiting for Weiss to continue. The silence stretched on for minutes, until Weiss held her hands out, palms up, beseeching Ruby to understand her unfinished thoughts.

"... So you don't hate me?" Weiss violently shook her head, making Ruby grin. Scooting closer, she leaned her head on the stiff girl's shoulder. "Then everything's okay? We can go back to how things used to be?" A tense nod was all Ruby needed to throw her arms around her partner in a giant hug. Knowing Weiss' aversion to public affection, she slowly started to pull away, but a thin arm wrapped around her back, holding her in place. Smiling, Ruby replaced her head on Weiss' shoulder and gave her another squeeze. they sat there, holding each other peacefully, for what felt like hours before a small whisper broke the silence.

"I've been having trouble sleeping the past few days." Shifting her head, Ruby looked up to see Weiss' scarred eye was gazing forward sightlessly, her mind somewhere else. "I keep having the same dream... well, I guess it's more of a nightmare. We're out of a mission, and at first everything is great, but then it all goes wrong. We mess up, and no matter what I do someone gets hurt," Weiss shifted, quickly wiping away a stray tear. "No matter what I do, I can't protect my team. I can't protect you." Ruby leaned closer, holding her tighter.

"It's just a dream. I'm fine," taking her partner's head in her hands, Ruby forced scared blue eyes to look into her calm silver ones. "We're going to be huntresses. That means that we'll end upon dangerous missions and that at some point we'll get hurt. All we can do is work together to keep each other as safe as possible." A small smile crossed Weiss' face, and Ruby smiled back. Taking a deep breath, Weiss stood, leaving the safety and comfort of her partner's arms. Tuning around, she held out her right hand to the still sitting girl.

"Shall we head back to the dorms?"

"Yeah," Ruby took the hand, smiling brightly. "Hey, I bet Yang won't be nearly as mad now that we've made up." Weiss glanced over at the cheery girl walking next to her.

"In that case, I'll let you explain to Yang that it was your idea to jump out the window." Horror filled Ruby's face for a second, before she saw her partner's shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

Laughter filled the garden as the two girls walked towards their almost certain doom.

* * *

Thunder rumbled and the fat dark clouds threatened heavy rainfall. Tall giants of stone reached upwards, forming jagged rows that separated a small section of Vytal from the rest of the continent. Large black creatures stalked the rocks, hunting for any unlucky victims who stumbled into their lands. A hunched figure paused, looking for landmarks in the unforgiving mountains. There, a rock that looked a lot like an ursa doing a headstand. Shifting direction slightly, the figure headed east until coming across a small cave.

Entering the cave, the figure stretched and scratched at dirty hair. No one said that being on a mission would be glamorous. Flipping a switch on the radio and grabbing a chunk of hardtack, the figure sat down and waited to find out if there were any new mission details. Popping static signaled that there was indeed a message. Just not an expected one.

"...? It's Glynda. I'm at Beacon..." A stone struck the broken radio and a voice raw from self-inflicted silence swore at the machine's inability to record just one message completely. "... I need you... Ozpin's orders are to come to Beacon as soon as possible... Please... hurry..." The radio sputtered and fell silent. The figure stood and gathered a few belongings before easing out into a sudden downpour. A grin broke out across the figure's face, caked on dirt cracking and falling away.

It looked like life was about to get a lot more interesting.

* * *

A/N: Finished another chapter, huzzah! Hmm, I thought I'd come up with something clever to put here, but all my brain is telling me is, "write the next chapter! We don't need sleep!"


	4. Chapter 4

Sunlight streamed down on the whistling blonde. Yang grinned to herself, pleased with how last night had turned out. When her younger sister and her partner finally reappeared in their dorm room enough time had passed for Blake to calm Yang down. Not that that stopped her from almost crushing the two of them in a bear hug when she heard that they had made up.

"And Blake thought that my idea had been bad," she mentally, and physically, gave herself a pat on the back. Walking into the cafeteria, she headed straight for the rest of team RWBY. "How are my lovely girls today?"

"Great!" Ruby looked up from her stack of pancakes to flash a smile, before returning to her food. Blake shot a small smile and nod at her partner as Yang sat down next to her. Yang looked across the table at Weiss. The heiress still looked tired, but not nearly as bad as the day before. Opening her mouth, whatever she was about to say was cut off as Nora jumped into an empty chair.

"Guys, didja hear? We're supposed to get a new professor today!" Leaning over, she hooked one of Ruby's pancakes and gulped it down while the team JNPR claimed the rest of the table's chairs. "I can't wait! Maybe it'll be a master weaponsmith and we'll get to make our weapons go 'pewpewpew' or 'ka-thump'! Oh, oh, or maybe it'll be a master of communication, and we'll learn how to do all sorts of signals!" Ren flinched as Nora's impression of a sloth was bellowed into his ear.

"Seriously? I haven't heard anything about that," Yang grinned. Hopefully the new professor would replace some of the boring lectures with something fun. Like punching Grimm. Blake frowned, eyebrows knitting together.

"Isn't it an odd time for a new professor? Usually they'd join a the beginning of the year, or we would at least be told that they'd be coming," she looked up at Pyrrha. "Where did you hear about this?" Pyrrha shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Well, Jaune and I were coming back last night from one of our training sessions and happened to overhear Professor Goodwitch telling Professor Oobleck about it."

"So you were eavesdropping."

Pyrrha looked away. "N-no, I would say that we just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Yep, eavesdropping," Yang grinned, but an elbow from Blake stopped her from continuing to mess with their red-headed friend.

"Anyway, we thought you'd like to know since it doesn't seem like anyone else knows about it." Ruby smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, thanks!" Finishing up breakfast, they all moved to head to class. "Do you have any idea when they'll get here?"

Jaune shook his head. "No, we didn't hear that. Though it kinda sounded like the other professors don't know that either."

Yang laughed. "So what, are they just gonna have a welcome party standing around all day until this new professor shows up?" The rest of the group laughed at the mental image.

"That is an excellent idea, Ms. Xiao Long," both teams froze. Turning slowly, they stared at the tall woman standing behind them. "It sounds like you two teams are volunteering. Follow me," spinning on her heel, Professor Goodwitch walked away. A second passed while team RWBY and JNPR looked at each other, before chasing after her.

* * *

"I can't believe she's actually making us stand here all day."

"Oh hush, it's your fault we're in this mess," Yang looked over at Weiss, who was standing next to the gate. Stretching her arms out, Yang waved them at their situation.

"How was I supposed to know she was there? You thought it was funny too, don't act like you didn't laugh. If you ask me, I bet she was actually gonna do this. I mean, why else would she even have these?!" Yang pulled on the strings in her hand, making the multi-colored balloons bounce in the air. Ruby smiled.

"At least we got out of classes for the day?" Weiss whirled to face her partner.

"That's not a good thing! She already said that we'd have to make up any missed work, so now we're going to be behind!" Ruby looked at the ground and shuffled her feet. Seeing that, Weiss sighed and let her shoulders' relax. "I guess we'll just have to spend this weekend in the library." Ruby nodded. Hearing familiar footsteps, she turned and waved at Blake as she approached. Her bow twitched in annoyance.

"Jaune says they haven't seen anyone except students at the other gate. It's already time for lunch, so hopefully the professor will show up soon," Yang groaned, holding her stomach.

"It's lunchtime? No wonder I'm starving," arm shooting out, she shoved her balloons into Weiss' surprised hands. "Hold these, will you? Me and Blake will go grab something for all of us to eat."

"Don't you dare try to get out of this, Yang! Get back he-"

"Can't hear you, stomach growling too loudly! We'll be back soon!" Blake shot an apologetic smile at Ruby before following her partner into the school. Weiss leaned against the gate, muttering about unfaithful teammates. After watching her for a moment, Ruby let her eyes wander, watching other students walk around the grounds, a group of birds fly out of one of the nearby wooded areas, a shadowy figure pushing through a bush, a feral cat marching-

Wait. Ruby turned back to the trees, searching for the figure. There it was, nearing the edge of the trees. Covered in a large cloak, it was definitely a person. Ruby reached out and pulled on Weiss' sleeve, who rolled her eyes.

"What now, Ruby?" Following Ruby's pointing finger, the heiress' eyes widened then swiftly narrowed. Letting the balloons loose, she stomped toward the person, resting one hand on her sword. "Whoever you are, freeze!" Hearing her voice, the figure turned towards them and kept walking on its altered course. Stopping ten feet from them, the cloaked figure tilted its head.

"..." Ruby and Weiss flinched at the noise. Whatever the figure had tried to say, it had come out as a raggedy howl. Clearing its throat, it tried again. "... Beacon?" Ruby blinked at the one-word question.

"Uh, yeah, this is Beacon Academy." The figure let out a happy grunt and pushed the cloak's hood back, giving them their first look at the odd person. Odd woman, Ruby realized, though it was difficult to tell under all the dirt and grime. Long matted hair fell over her face, the brown dirt not fully covering the greasy red, black, and white strands. A gloved hand pushed some of it out of the way, revealing a crooked smile and a pair of sunglasses that looked to be held together with tape and prayers. The cracked dark lens hid the woman's eyes from view, but it was easy to tell that she was looking back at them.

"Finally. I guess I shouldn't have taken that shortcut, huh?" Her voice was gravelly and raw, but seemed to be gathering strength as she used it. Dust flew off the cloak as she moved closer to them. Weiss stiffened, and Ruby looked over to see what was wrong with her. The stench hit her like a punch to the gut, an awful mix of rot, blood, and sweat. The woman stopped when Ruby gagged, and quickly shifted so that she was downwind of them. "Sorry, haven't had a good cleaning in ages."

"W-who are you? What are you doing here?" Weiss recovered quickly once the stranger had moved away.

"Got a message telling me to show up." She pointed toward the tower that held the headmaster's office. "So I came as fast as I could. Where's Glyn?" Looking around, she took in the school grounds before looking back at the young girls.

"'Glyn'? I don't know any-"

"Are you our new professor?" Weiss glared at her partner's interruption, but couldn't deny that she was wondering the same thing. A barking laugh met the question.

"Me, a professor? Little Red, I'm just a huntress who spends more time with Grimm than with people." Weiss sighed, knowing that that had been the worst thing she could've said. Ruby was vibrating with excitement. "Now, do you think you could take me to Ozpin's office? I would really like to know why I'm here." Before either of them could response, a purple streak pushed past them.

"There you are. It's about time you showed up..." Professor Goodwitch wrinkled her nose at the stench. An uncomfortable silence came over the group as the two women looked each other over. The stranger opened her mouth, but only a yelp popped out when a flick of the professor's wrist lifted her into the air. Pointed her crop at the floating woman, she glared before marching toward the staff housing, her unwilling captive trailing behind her. "You need a shower. Now."

"C'mon Blake, I'm sure the two of them are fine," Yang spoke around the chips she was eating. Ignoring her, Blake kept walking, holding a bag of food for her other teammates. Stepping outside, she walked a few more feet before her vision adjusted. Stopping suddenly, she stared. "Oof, hey, why did you sto... Oh," Yang walked into her partner's back and looked around her to see the scene playing out in front of them. A very cross Professor Goodwitch was stomping across the grounds, followed by an equally upset person who hung upside-down a few feet above the ground. Trailing a ways behind them were Ruby and Weiss, who saw them standing slack-jaw and moved to join them. Once the confused team RWBY was assembled, they just watched until the two women were out of sight. Yang seemed to recover first.

"So... That was a thing." The rest of her team turned to stare at her, before helpless laughter overtook them.

* * *

Glynda stormed into her living quarters, throwing her captive to the floor and slamming the door behind her with a flick of her wrist. The woman's dirty cloak was pulled off her and dumped on the ground with another motion of Glynda's hand. Each twist removed another layer of clothing, until a sizable pile lay on the floor and the woman stood bare. Eyeing the pile, the blonde wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"I'm not sure if those should be washed, or just burned," turning to face the woman Glynda paused, staring at the leather thong that hung between the woman's breasts. Tearing her eyes away, she pointed toward the bathroom. "Go get cleaned up. I'll find something for you to wear." The woman shrugged and walked away, giving Glynda a good look at her scar-covered backside. The sound of running water shook her out of her stupor, and she moved to her closet. A cursory glance told her that none of her normal clothes would fit. Standing still for a moment, her eyes fell on her dresser. Opening the bottom drawer, she pulled out an old leather jacket, two sizes too big for her. Gathering a few other pieces of clothing from the drawer, she folded them into a neat pile before carrying them into the bathroom.

"Damn, I needed that," the woman stepped out of the shower, letting excess water run down her body. Grabbing the offered towel, she started drying off, not seeing the frown that crossed Glynda's face. Glancing at the clean clothes, she smirked. "Never got rid of those, huh?"

"There was never a reason to. It would have been a waste to throw out perfectly good clothes." Her glare and cold tone wiped the smile from the woman's face. "Hurry up and get ready. You showed up later than I'd hoped, but there' still enough time to introduce you to the students after you speak with Ozpin." Marching out of the room, she slammed the door behind her. The woman frowned, pulling at a chunk of matted hair.

"Good to see you too, Glyn," looking into the bathroom mirror, she started to make herself presentable.

* * *

A/N: And so the mysterious figure has arrived at Beacon! Why didn't I introduce her by name? Because she doesn't have one yet. I'm really going to have to decide on one soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Murmured conversations filled the amphitheater. Ruby looked around, seeing a crowd of familiar faces, before turning back to her friends. Team RWBY and JNPR were sitting on one of the lower benches, chatting and comparing theories.

"I'm telling you, this is definitely about that person Ruby met," Yang wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders. "If that's our new professor, we're all in a lot of trouble." Ruby quickly shook her head.

"But she said that she was just a huntress, not a professor."

"Why else would she show up today? Maybe she just isn't supposed to tell people she's the new professor."

Jaune leaned closer. "So, what's her name? If she's a huntress, maybe we've heard of her," Weiss shook her head.

"We don't know, it didn't come up," Blank faces met her statement. "We had bigger things to worry about, such as a stranger sneaking into Beacon."

"But Weiss, she said she had been taking a shortcut," Ruby shrunk under Weiss' icy stare.

"Shortcut or not, she shouldn't have been able to get so close without being noticed," Nora gasped.

"She's a master of stealth! Maybe she'll teach us how to move in shadows and disappear!" The group grinned at Nora's less-than-sneaky rendition of a ninja. Yang leaned into her partner.

"Hey, we've already got a master of stealth here. We don't need someone else," Blake smiled slightly at the compliment.

The sound of heels slamming into the floor quieted the room's conversations. Professor Goodwitch swept into the room, cape whipping behind her. A few second later the strange woman wandered in, annoyance etched on her face.

"Silence, students," her angry voice left no room for defiance. "I'm sure that by now the rumor has spread about a new professor," Nora leaned forward, an excited grin stretched across her face. "That rumor is false. You are not getting a new professor," the smile fell off her face and Nora slumped down, disappointed. Goodwitch glared at the woman standing next to her before looking back at the students. "However, Professor Ozpin has decided to bring in a huntress to assist me with your combat training," she paused to let the surprised murmurs to subside. Ruby leaned forward to take a better look at the odd woman she'd met earlier. A shower had done wonders to the woman: instead of just seeing a layer of dirt, Ruby could now easily make out scars on the woman's tanned skin. Her long hair, while still messy, was free of grime and tied back in a loose ponytail of shifting red, white, and black hair. The ratty cloak had been replaced with a black leather jacket, over a plain white shirt and black pants. She was still wearing leather gloves and sunglasses, but they were new pairs that were in much better shape than the previous ones.

"I'm Clare," her voice was still gravelly, but no longer sounded like she had tried to eat a live Grimm, "and I'm here to teach you a few tricks that'll hopefully keep you from dying right away when fighting." Goodwitch's eyes narrowed and she stepped forward.

"Yes, as she said, Huntress Clare will be teaching you some new techniques. Now, are there any questions?" She scanned the crowd, eyes warning everyone that the correct answer was 'no'. Too bad Nora didn't get the message.

"Ooh, ooh, what're you going to teach us? Does it have something to do with you being a master of stealth?!" The entire room turned to face the excited orange-haired girl. Clare grinned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but how about I give you a demonstration?" Goodwitch grabbed her sleeve and yanked her backwards, whispering angrily. Whatever she said didn't please the taller woman, who muttered back. The students watched the two women bicker for a few minutes before Clare jerked away and pointed at the crowd. "Let's have a match! Me versus some of Glyn's students," head turning to view the teenagers, she stopped and looked straight at Ruby. "Little Red, fancy meeting you here. Get your team ready and get down here," she looked over her shoulder at a furious Goodwitch. "It's time for you kids to see what a real huntress can do."

* * *

Ruby clutched Crescent Rose to her chest and looked at the rest of her team. Standing in a loose diamond formation, they all looked slightly nervous. Yang looked over her shoulder from her vanguard position and caught her sister's eye, giving her a grin, slamming her gauntlets into each other. But the bravado seemed forced, as her grin fell when she looked back at their opponent.

Clare stood at the opposite end of the arena, empty hands crossed in front of her chest. Any playfulness she had previously shown was gone, and a battle-hardened face stared at them. It didn't help that she and Goodwitch had exchanged more heated words while team RWBY had prepared, worsening her mood. Even if they were fighting only one person, it was obvious that this would be much more difficult than their normal team matches. Goodwitch stood on the sidelines, and with one final glare at Clare, signaled the fight to begin.

They broke formation in a flash, leaping into a well-practiced attack. Yang lunged straight at Clare, shooting off a few explosive shells to knock the woman off-balance before striking her with a right hook. Yang blinked, and barely caught herself before she spun around, fist hitting nothing but air. Charging her again, Yang unleashed a flurry of punches, all of them missing their target by a hair. Seeing her opponent shift, the blonde brawler leapt backwards, landing between Blake and Ruby.

"Something's wrong," she muttered to her teammates, eyes never leaving Clare. "I can't hit her." Ruby shot a quick glance at her sister.

"You mean she could dodge all your attacks?" Yang shook her head.

"No, I mean I seriously can't hit her. It was kinda like fighting Pyrrha, all my punches just swept away from her," Ruby nodded, absorbing the information.

"If she's got a semblance like Pyrrha's, then she'll have trouble with multiple attacks at once," she looked over her shoulder at their white supporter. "We're going all out, cover us!"

A nod of understanding was all Ruby needed, and the three on them launched themselves at their target. Blake and Ruby struck first, slashing from opposite sides. Both weapons slipped harmlessly past Clare, who turned her head to look at Blake. An arm struck out at her forehead and Blake threw herself back, silently thanking Weiss for the haste glyph that had appeared under her feet. Turning back to her opponent, she felt something wet and warm drip down her cheek. Stiffening, she lifted a hand to her face, looking at the splash of red, before looking up at her displayed aura. Barely a sliver was missing. Bringing her attention back to the fight, she saw Yang going in for another punch. Clare's right arm was in the air, ready to hit Yang back.

"Yang, get away from her!" Yang faltered at the scream, trying to jump back before the strike connected. Two flashes, one white, the other red, swept in front of her. Ruby swung her scythe sideways, forcing Clare's punch to stop, while Weiss quickly formed an ice wall to separate them. Backing up, they joined Blake. Ruby's eyes widened at her teammate's face.

"Blake, you're bleeding!"

"Yeah, I think she can attack through auras." The team froze at the thought. Their auras were the only thing keeping them from serious injury, and going against a trained huntress while protected was dangerous. Going against one without that protection was downright deadly. Weiss stepped forward, handing Blake a handkerchief.

"What should we do? Give up?" The heiress ground her teeth at the idea. "I don't think Professor Goodwitch would let us do this if she thought we'd get really hurt." The sound of shattering ice broke up their battlefield meeting and their attention returned to the woman calmly walking through the remains of the wall. Ruby hefted Crescent Rose towards her.

"Let's try one more attack," she glanced at Weiss. She wasn't the only one who didn't like the idea of losing. "We haven't really tried dust yet, so we'll distract her with gunfire while Weiss hits her with dust attacks." Nodding once, the team jumped apart.

Yang and Blake struck first, shooting rapid blasts from Ember Celica and Gambol Shroud. Ruby leapt back, shifting Crescent Rose into her rifle form before letting loose. While they didn't seem to be causing damage, the numerous bullets did slow their target down, giving Weiss the perfect opportunity to unleash a blast of fire from her sword. Landing near the inferno, Weiss smiled at her handiwork. Rotating Myrtenaster's hilt to ice dust, she lunged forward for one more attack.

She barely saw the shadow in the flames before it hit her. Gagging, she folded over the knee in her stomach. Lifting Myrtenaster, she attempted a quick stab, which only succeeded in her getting backhanded across the right side of her face. The taste of iron filled her and she realized that she no longer was standing. Trying to focus her eye, Weiss looked at her opponent, who held her off the ground by her hair. Grabbing the falling rapier with her free left hand, Clare turned it to look at the dust vials. Glancing at her captive, a flash of recognition registered on her face, quickly replaced with a smile that chilled Weiss to the bone.

"Well, well, well, not as perfect as people believe," prying a vial of ice dust open, she dumped some into her hand before letting the sword fall to the ground. It seemed like slow motion to Weiss, as she watched the hand reach out, and horror filled her eyes as she realized what was about to happen. Thrashing, she struck the arm holding her, but it was like striking metal, hard and unyielding. Through her panic she could barely make out Ruby's voice, but her eye never left the hand drawing ever closer. The dust was cold as it was pressed against the right side of her face.

Weiss managed to blink once before the icy burn took over her cheek, and her world turned black.

* * *

"WEISS!" Ruby threw herself at the huntress holding her partner, but the invisible force once again pushed her back. Striking uselessly with her scythe, she could only watch as Weiss went limp as their opponent took her hand away from her partner's face, small ice crystals decorating her skin. Moving to attack again, a hand held her back.

"Ruby, look, she's still alive!" Focusing on the heiress, Ruby saw that Weiss was indeed still breathing and fresh tears streamed down her face. It looked like she was saying something, but her voice was too quiet to hear what was said. "What the hell is Goodwitch thinking, this needs to end!" Looking towards their professor, they saw she was moving towards Clare, riding crop in hand.

"If anyone takes one more step, I'm taking a prize." The words were said calmly, but the steel edge to them froze everyone in place. Shifting hands, the tall woman rested her fingers against the heiress' left eye socket. A sob broke free from the hanging girl.

"That's enough, Clare," Goodwitch's words were firm, but she didn't move from her spot. "You've won, now let Ms. Schnee go," a hummed non-answer was the response, and Clare dug her fingers a little more into the socket. Whimpers could easily be heard coming from Weiss, and Yang's eyes shifted to crimson. "Let her go, Clare. You have nothing to prove here, especially to m-" her voice died at a sharp 'crunch', and she turned to look at whoever had moved. Blake stared down in horror at the shell casing under her foot.

"That's a pity," driving her fingers deep into the socket, Clare made good on her threat. Yanking her right arm back, she released the limp heiress with her other hand.

Weiss' scream filled the amphitheater, and the wailing echoes were the last thing she heard before falling unconscious.

* * *

A/N: Since a better name didn't come to me, everyone say hi to Clare. You'd think that team RWBY would know better than to agree to fight an angry huntress, but apparently not.


	6. Chapter 6

Early morning light streamed into the room, falling onto an occupied bed. Groaning, Weiss opened her eye to stare up at the white ceiling above her. The scent of antiseptics and the plain white room told her she was in the infirmary. Lifting her right hand, she grimaced as her fingers swept lightly over her bandaged face. Her aura had taken care of the dust burns while she slept, so most of the cloth was over her left eye. Feeling a weight on her other hand, she turned her head to see what it was.

"Ruby...?" Blinking slowly, she took in the sight before her. Two small hands were wrapped around her own, and her red-cloaked leader was slumped in a chair next to the bed, sleeping peacefully. The sound of her name roused her, and she looked up at her partner.

"Weiss, you're awake!" A smile broke across her face. Realizing they were still holding hands, Ruby quickly let go and shifted her chair closer to the bed. Weiss frowned at the now missing warmth. "The doctors said that you'd be fine, so I wasn't too worried. Oh, before you ask, the rest of us are fine. After you were..." Ruby's mouth turned down in a frown, "after you were hurt, Professor Goodwitch slammed that huntress into the wall and had all the other students leave. Goodwitch had us bring you here while she took her to see Professor Ozpin. You should've seen her, she made an Ursa Major look like a teddy bear," Weiss chuckled softly.

"How long was I out?" Ruby glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Just overnight. Depending on what the doctors say, you may be able to go to some of your classes today." Looking at her partner, Weiss noticed the slight bags under her eyes.

"Did you spend the night here, with me?" Ruby flushed.

"N-no, I mean, I did, but it wasn't a problem. I didn't want you to wake up all alone," she wrung her hands, trying to decide how to explain her not-so-reasonable reasoning. "I was worried about you, and wanted to be the first person you saw. Is that bad?" Weiss smiled, and a weight Ruby hadn't known was there disappeared from her chest.

"No, I don't think it's bad. Thank you, Ruby," pushing herself to sit up, Weiss felt the bandages around her head shift. She sighed as her hand ran across her covered eye socket. Ruby reached out and slowly pulled her hand away, looking sadly at her injured partner as their fingers intertwined again.

"Do you remember what happened?" The heiress paused, but nodded slowly as her memories of the previous day rushed back.

* * *

The darkness was stifling. Her face had gone numb, thankfully, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything more than just hang limp. Familiar voices registered in her ears, but she focused on the even breathing of the woman holding her up.

"... Why?" Weiss silently cursed her weak voice, sounding so much like a crying little girl.

"'Why?' Maybe I don't like kids. Maybe I hate liars," Weiss flinched as the hand in her hair twisted. "Maybe I just like hurting people." Weiss took a deep breath before responding.

"I don't believe that."

"Oh?"

"You're a huntress. If you liked hurting people, you wouldn't be someone who fights to protect others." Chuckling, Clare shifted her hold on Weiss, loosening the painful grip.

"You've got a sharp mind, Snowflake, but you're naive if you think all huntsmen are good. It's too bad your team wasn't smart enough to give up before it came to this. If anyone takes one more step, I'm taking a prize," Weiss winced at the sudden yell, then stilled as she felt cold fingers rest against her eye. Feebly fighting back, she hung uselessly in her dark world while the fingers pushed and curled around the orb. Goodwitch's voice reached her ears, but the pounding of her heart warped the words. Clare waited a moment before she started to pull her hand back, but a loud sound made her pause. A sigh slipped from her lips. "That's a pity."

Weiss gasped as the fingers stabbed into her eye, feeling so much like a knife. A slight tug and it was free, knuckles scraping against delicate skin as Clare claimed her prize. Feeling her mind slipping away, Weiss could only scream and cover her eye as she was dropped, consciousness gone before she hit the ground.

* * *

A warm squeeze brought her back to the present. Turning back to her partner, she saw the concern etched across Ruby's face.

"I'm okay," Weiss answered the unasked question and gave Ruby's hand a squeeze back. Ruby smiled brightly, but the worry didn't completely disappear. "Did I miss anything else?" Ruby shook her head.

"Nope, we brought you here and then had the rest of the day off. Oh, I need to let Yang and Blake know you're awake!" Pulling out her scroll, she quickly shot off a message. A slight smile flickered across Weiss' lips, but faded quickly as she realized that there was still one question she needed answered.

"So... You saw it, right?" Ruby tilted her head, confused. "My eye. You must have seen that my eye was..." Voice trailing off, Weiss fought off tears. Now was not the time to lose her composure. Ruby's eyes widened in understanding.

"No, we didn't see anything! She said to keep it covered, or it would be hurt!" Weiss stared at her partner blankly. "Oh, uh, see, that huntress said the she didn't actually take your eye, she just made it seem like she did. Something about applying pressure in the right place and adding some theatrics. You'll be fine in a day or two, so don't worry." Ruby's smile faltered as she looked at the fear and confusion on the heiress' face. Leaning forward, Ruby wrapped her free arm around Weiss' thin shoulders, resting her head in the crook of her neck and smiling as she felt a hand alight softly on her lower back. Closing her eyes, she could feel her partner relaxing into the hug. The slam of an opening door broke the moment, and they quickly pulled apart.

"And how's our favorite heiress doing today?" Yang sauntered up to the bed, grinning and plopping down next to Weiss' right hand. Blake slowly followed, taking a spot on the foot of the bed.

"I've been better." Blake reached a hand to lay on Weiss' covered leg, but left it hovering an inch in the air. Eyes full of guilt, she could barely look at her teammate.

"I'm sorry, Weiss. It's my fault, if I hadn't thought that I could sneak up on her-"

"It's not your fault," Weiss cut her off quickly. "If it hadn't been you, I bet Yang would've messed up instead." Yang grumbled at the insinuation, but Weiss ignored her. "I won't have any lasting injuries, so don't worry about it." Blake's shoulder relaxed as a weight left them. "If you still think you need to make it up to me, then make sure these two go to class. We already missed one day, I don't need to deal with trying to teach them things that they should have learned in class."

"Consider it done." Glancing at the clock, Blake stood and grabbed Yang's arm. "Speaking of class, we should get going. Come on, Ruby," Ruby quickly looked between Weiss and Blake, obviously torn. Weiss smiled and nodded toward the door.

"Go, you dolt. I'll join you as soon as the doctor says I'm allowed to go," Ruby nodded and moved to leave, but stopped and glanced down at her hand. Weiss followed her gaze and flushed, letting go of the hand that she hadn't even known she'd still been holding. A short goodbye and Weiss was left in silence. Leaning back into the pillow, Weiss looked at the ceiling as her still warm hand lightly traced her bandaged eye, using just enough pressure to feel the emptiness below the cloth. Smiling ruefully, she closed her right eye, savoring the control over the darkness. The soft squeak of the door alerted her to someone's entrance, but she didn't pay them any mind.

"You're looking a lot better, Snowflake." Eye snapping open, Weiss faced the speaker. Moving slowly, Clare stopped at the foot of the bed and stood, watching her. Gone was all of the terrifying presence from yesterday, and she shuffled awkwardly as she waited for Weiss to respond. A full minute passed before Weiss opened her mouth.

"You cut your hair." Twitching at the unexpected comment, she ran her hand through her short, swept back locks. A small grin appeared under the ever present sunglasses.

"Yeah, figured it wouldn't be worth the hassle to try to get all the knots out."

"It looks... better," silently cursing her manner-filled upbringing, Weiss clenched her jaw shut. It was insane to try to have a normal conversation with someone so dangerous. Clare let out a short laugh at the compliment, before the silence filled the room again. "... Did you want something?"

"Mhmm, here," She reached into a pocket and pulled something out, holding it towards Weiss. "I thought that you'd like this back."

Weiss stared, and the held item stared back. Round and perfectly painted to match, the orb looked so small in the hand of the tall woman. Taking it gingerly, Weiss turned it around, checking for scratches or cracks.

"I talked to the doc already, and he said that you can take the bandages off and leave whenever you want. Do you need any help with that?" Clare gestured to the item, and Weiss shook her head. Getting out of the bed, she walked over to the mirror that hung on the wall. Swiftly unwrapping the bandages, she took a moment to look at herself, stress and lack of sleep evident on her usually perfect face. Well, almost perfect, she thought as her eye landed on her scar. Sighing lightly, she slipped the prosthetic into place with practiced ease.

"Why?" Not bothering to turn around, she watched Clare through the mirror. Clare scratched at her cheek, where an imprint of a hand was slowly fading.

"I was mad. First Glyn was cold, and then that Ozpin told me that I wouldn't have a choice about this job. I spent the last few years alone in the wilderness, and suddenly I'm supposed to take care of and teach a bunch of kids?" She held her hands in the air. "That's insane! I'm bad enough with people I know, I shouldn't be at a school." Sighing, she ran her hand through her hair. "Damn, enough of those excuses. Upset or not, I shouldn't have done that to you. I'm sorry."

"And if I don't accept your apology?"

"I start begging? Wouldn't be good to have the Schnee heiress pissed with me," she grinned, but let it drop when she met Weiss' frosty glare. "It's none of my business, but how'd it happen?" Weiss stiffened.

"You're right, it's none of your business. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've missed enough class already," stomping toward the door, Weiss refused to look at the older woman.

"The school doesn't know, does it? It's not in your records." Freezing, the heiress slowly turned away from the door, eyes full of fear. "It's well made, I'll give you that. If we hadn't been so close I probably wouldn't have figured it out. But missing half your vision is likely to get you, or one of your teammates, killed eventually."

"What are you going to do? Tell the professors?" Weiss swallowed the rest of her words. If word got out, not only would she most likely get kicked out, her father would be furious that the well-kept secret had been revealed. Clare looked back at her calmly.

"Now, why would I do that? There's nothing to gain. Though I do think I'm supposed to report things like this, so keeping quiet could be a pain in the long run. Hmm," she tapped on her chin thoughtfully. "How about this: I agree to not say anything, and you agree to special lessons?" Weiss stared at the offered hand. "Look, this is the best deal you're going to get. You don't have to worry about being expelled or getting one of your friends hurt, and I can say that the two of us have made up, which should get Ozpin and Glyn off my case."

"What type of special lessons?" Clare grinned and tapped her sunglasses.

"Let's just say that there's more than one way to see the battlefield," a moment passed while Weiss watched the huntress.

"... I don't have a choice , do I?"

"Sure you do. It just happens that if you say no I'll tell the school about your little deception. And I'm sure that won't end well." Another second passed, and Weiss slowly shook the offered hand. "Good. Then we'll start tonight. Meet me on Beacon cliffs at midnight." Waving at the door, Clare signaled that their conversation was over. Weiss sighed and left the room, headed for class.

She might as well try to have a normal rest of the day.

* * *

To say Glynda Goodwitch was furious would be an understatement. She was seething, and would have been pacing if it wouldn't have scared the infirmary staff even more. Standing by the closed door, her jaw tightened as it swung open. Nodding stiffly at her white-haired student, Glynda waited a moment before stomping into the room, eyes landing on the huntress sitting on a bed. That damn grin was on her face again, like everything was just a game.

"You apologized," Clare nodded, even though it hadn't be a question. "Then we're going back to my quarters."

"Mhmm," standing and stretching, the grin never left the taller woman's lips. Glynda wanted to wipe it off her face with a quick strike, but knew that it wouldn't work. After all, she'd managed to keep the grin all through last night. Frowning, the blonde professor considered the night's inpromptu meeting.

* * *

"You have been here less than twelve hours and already sent a student to the infirmary. Do you have an explanation for your actions?"

Looking up from her kneeling position, Clare shrugged, makeshift arm restraints clanking together. Small grin settling onto her lips, she stared up at the man standing before her. Arms jerked further behind herself, the huntress glanced over her shoulder at the glaring woman standing a few steps back, riding crop in hand. "I _did_ tell them not to move, or else," Ozpin took a step closer, cold brown eyes staring down at her.

"I had you come to Beacon to help my students, and instead you tried to blind one of them?"

"Technically, if I'd been trying to blind her she would have lost both eyes. I just scared her and roughed her up a bit, that's all," her voice trailed off as Ozpin's cane came off the floor to rest on her chest.

"You are here to teach them skills to survive being huntsmen, not to end their careers before they begin. You will never lay a hand on one of my students again," leaning on his cane, he pushed it harder against the huntress with each word. "If you do, then..." one final push, and he let the threat hang in the air.

"Understood," grinning, Clare raised an eyebrow. "Think you can move your cane? Any farther and it'll rip the back of my jacket, and I like this jacket," Ozpin stared unblinking as he slowly pulled his cane back. A soft ' _shlurck'_ and the cane was free to rest on the ground. "Are we done? I'll apologize to Snowflake if it'll help," ignoring her, Glynda moved to Ozpin's side, whispering quietly to him. Once they finished their conversation, the headmaster looked back at Clare.

"We are done if you make a promise to Glynda that you will not harm another student, and will follow her orders," the huntress' grin faltered for a second.

"Fine, Glyn, I promise I won't hurt another kid, and I'll do what you say," nodding at the promise, Ozpin returned to his desk, signaling the two women to leave. Glynda yanked the bound woman up and moved towards the door. Clare turned to follow, but paused when her head bobbed forward. Long hair fluttered to the ground as she glanced back at the headmaster.

"A final warning. I believe in second chances at my school," Ozpin's hard eyes looked over his spectacles. "You will not get another." A quick nod and Clare turned to back to the door, a straight line across the back of her neck coloring the skin below it scarlet.

The walk back to Glynda's quarters was silent except for the clacking of heels. Walking a few steps behind Clare to keep an eye on her, the blonde professor glared at the woman's relaxed body language. A beep from her scroll alerted Glynda to a new message, and she glanced down to see a message from the infirmary. Freezing, she read the message about her injured student. "We need to go back to Ozpi-" looking up, her orders died on her lips. Clare was gone. "I'm going to kill her," gritting her teeth, she picked up her pace, eyes swiveling as she searched for her lost captive. Mood worsening with each passing minute, she almost broke her scroll when it beeped again. Her eyes narrowed as she read the new mail, and she stormed towards the infirmary. As she entered the main office, Clare glanced up from where she loomed over a terrified doctor and grinned.

"Oh, Glyn, that was fa-"

SLAP.

The doctor flinched as the huntress' head whipped to the side. Glynda raised her hand and struck again, hard enough for blood to drip from Clare's lip. Slowly the shaggy-haired woman turned her head to look down at her attacker, grin still in place, but it had lost its humor. Glynda swallowed and fought the urge to step back as she met the piercing eyes barely visible through the tinted lenses. "We're leaving. Now," tossing a nod at the doctor, Clare sauntered out of the room with the blonde professor on her heels until they reached the staff quarters. Throwing open her door, Glynda shoved the taller woman onto the couch and glared down at her. Opening her mouth to speak, Clare beat her to it.

"He wasn't a student, and I didn't hurt him, just threatened him a bit. Nothing that went against my promise," soft clanks filled the room as Clare broke free of her restraints. Glynda didn't even blink; if they had really wanted to lock the huntress up, it would have taken a lot more than just some chains. "It's been a long time, but you should still remember Glyn: I'll never break a promise I make to you," she waited a few moments for a reaction, and sighed when none came. "Anyways, you got a note from the doc that your student'll be fine, right? So it's all good."

Pulling out her scroll, Glynda stared at the two newest messages. "I did get a message from the infirmary," glancing between the scroll and Clare's calm grin, she bit her lip slightly as she made a decision. Swiping quickly, she watched as the first message was deleted. "Even if Ms. Schnee will be fine, it doesn't excuse what you've done," putting her scroll away, she lifted her eyes to see that Clare had stood up and silently moved closer, leaning in close.

"I'm glad some things haven't changed about you, Glyn," the whisper floated gently in her ear. "When the kid wakes up, I'll apologize to her, alone. Once that's done I'll do whatever you want me to, okay?" An almost inperceivable nod, and the taller woman stepped back, smiling brightly. "Great, then I'm going to grab a shower. I'm all sticky."

* * *

"Hey Glyn, you're spacing out," snapping out of her memories, Glynda glanced at her couch, where Clare was making herself at home. Jacket and gloves tossed onto the coffee table, the huntress relaxed after her visit with the injured girl. "Something on your mind?"

Shaking her head, the professor moved towards her bedroom. "Not something, _someone_ ," muttering to herself, Glynda prepared for the long day ahead. She still had tasks to take care of and classes to teach, and she wasn't finished with Clare. Hands pausing over paperwork, she let a small smile form. If Clare thought Ozpin's punishment had been all she'd have to deal with, then she didn't know Glynda as well as she thought.

* * *

A/N: So, Clare isn't done with Weiss yet. Who saw Weiss' secret coming (really, let me know, I'm curious)? Special thanks to Orion Matrix for chatting with me and reminding me that you guys can't read my mind *slowly takes off tinfoil hat*, which led to some improvements to this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

The halls were empty as Weiss walked through them. Adjusting the black cloth crossing her face, she frowned. It was a good thing that she had stopped and talked to the doctor before leaving the infirmary, since Clare had failed to mention a few things. Like how she was supposed to wear an eyepatch for a few days until the scratches in and around her eye socket healed. The doctor she talked to had been nervous, but a few quick questions revealed why: apparently some strange woman had threatened him with bodily harm if he didn't lie about her eye's status in the report. At least that was one less thing Weiss had to worry about. Reaching Professor Port's classroom, the heiress took a moment to breathe deeply before opening the door.

All eyes turned towards her, and even Port stopped lecturing as she quickly walked to her seat and sat down. Flashing a small smile to a worried-looking Ruby, Weiss turned to the professor and waited for him to resume his story. A few more silent seconds passed, and then he launched into a tale about clearing out a beowolf infested cave with nothing but a lighter and a sausage.

As soon as class ended, Weiss found herself surrounded. All of her friends, and most of her classmates, came over to check on her and offer their support. Luckily Ruby had already told everyone that Weiss was okay, so she all she had to do was explain that the doctor had told her to wear the eyepatch to keep her eye clean. After a couple of minutes most of the people left, leaving just team RWBY and JNPR in the room.

"You kinda look bad-ass, Weiss," Yang poked the black band sitting above Weiss' eye. "Maybe you should keep it." Weiss gave the blonde her best glare, and Yang grinned. "Yeah, definitely makes you bad-ass. Okay, everyone who thinks she should keep it, raise your hand!" Five hands shot into the air. Weiss stared.

"I can understand Nora and Jaune, but you too, Pyrrha?" The redhead smiled slightly at Weiss' exasperation.

"While it would limit you in combat, I can't deny that it's very impactful to your image." Ruby nodded energetically, hand still in the air.

"Yeah, you look so cool! Like you're ready to take on an death stalker all by yourself!" Weiss shook her head at the statement, but couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Maybe I will keep it," excited faces greeted her. "I'll keep it just to use when you aren't listening to me."

"Aw, that's no fun."

"Come on, we should really head to our next class." Grumbling about the fun being ruined, Yang and the rest of Team Eyepatch gathered their things and left. Walking a few feet behind the rest of them, Weiss stiffened as something grabbed her right hand. Jerking right to look, she was greeted by the face of a sheepish Ruby. The cloak-wearer squeezed her hand lightly and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Weiss. I-is it all right if we do this until we get to the classroom?" Puppy eyes stared up at her, and Weiss knew she couldn't say no. A quick squeeze back was her response, and Ruby smiled the whole way to class.

* * *

Moonlight trickled into the silent dorm room, barely illuminating it. Weiss listened to quiet breathing of her sleeping teammates as she sat up slowly and checked her scroll. Ten minutes until midnight. Getting up and quietly heading for the door, she paused and looked back at her bed. Sighing softly, she grabbed Myrtenaster and hooked it onto her belt. Now prepared for anything, she left the room without looking back.

If she had, maybe she would have seen the silver eyes watching her silently.

* * *

"You came," Clare's eyebrows sat high above her sunglasses as Weiss approached. Huffing, the heiress looked down at the woman sprawled on the cliff's edge.

"Of course I came, I agreed to this 'special' training of yours," her eye wandered the nearby area, and seeing nothing unusual in the grass, focused on the woman laying on her back.

"Well, I didn't think that you'd actually show up, Snowflake," rolling backwards, the huntress used the gained momentum to stand. "Let's get started then. First, put on this."

Weiss stared at the length of black cloth held out to her. "... A blindfold? Why?"

"Because this'll be the quickest way for you to learn. Oh right, let me explain. You know how to control your aura and activate it on command right?" Pausing, she waited for a nod before continuing. "Well, aura is good for a lot of things. It protects us, it can be used to defend, heal, or harm, and it's really the only reason huntsmen don't get squished in our fights with Grimm," reaching out, she snugly tied the cloth over Weiss' face, rendering the already dark world black. Fighting the urge to rip it off, the heiress focused on keeping track of the leather-clad huntress. "But most people stop at the level of control." Clare's voice moved as she shifted position, and Weiss tried to turn to face it. "You're going to jump past that level, and learn something that most hunters can't do."

"And what's that?" Weiss could barely keep the worry out of her voice. Multiple scenarios flew through her head, and only a few ended well for her.

"Using your aura to see. Well, 'see' isn't quite accurate, but it's close enough. It's a lot like reaching out with your hands in the dark. At first you'll just feel empty air or bump into things, but after a while you can tell where things are just by touch." A hand brushed Weiss' shoulder and she jumped. "I'm going to stop moving in a second, and I want you to use your aura to figure out where I am."

Weiss nodded and focused on her breathing. While there were many ways to activate her aura, she found that controlling her breath was the easiest method when not in battle. Slowing it down, she felt the familiar prickle of activation, and knew that an icy white halo had formed around her. Now came the hard part. Balling her hands into fists, she tried to mentally push her aura out. Straining for a few minutes, she let out a held-in breath, and tried to think. Blindly trying to force something with no knowledge wasn't going to work, obviously. So instead, she focused on her center. Imagining her aura as a block of ice, she slowly let it expand, frost creeping away from her and ice crystals slowly reaching out in all directions. Slowly but surely, it reached out six inches, then a foot, then two, then four feet. Weiss smiled to herself and kept reaching, searching for the huntress.

Clare sat on a boulder ten feet behind the heiress, and grinned as she watched the cold aura flare up and out. Uncoiling her own aura, she decided to give the girl a hand.

Weiss shuddered at the sudden touch to her aura. It was warm, and slimy, and _wrong_. Her frozen aura tried to pull back, but the intruder wrapped itself around an ice crystal and tugged slightly, pulling behind Weiss. It and Weiss' aura began a tug-of-war for control, until the heiress finally gave up and relaxed. Focusing on that direction, she slowly let the ice follow the pulling, until it hit what felt like a mass of worms. Remembering what she was supposed to do, Weiss returned her attention to her physical body and turned to face behind her. Clapping hands broke the silence and startled her.

"Well done, and on your first try too. You might be a natural," smirking, Weiss pulled the blindfold up so she could see again.

"Of course I can do this, I am a Schnee after all." Clare shrugged in response. Weiss frowned as she thought about the thing that helped her. "So was that your aura? That thing that pulled on me?"

"Mhmm. Everyone's is different, so don't be surprised if you come across an odder one some day. Yours is seriously cold, I thought it was going to give me frostbite, Snowflake," the whited-haired girl blinked at the comment, and a thought crossed her mind.

"Does that mean that everyone will be able to tell that I'm doing this? I thought the whole point would be that nobody knows I have to do this."

"Eh, it'll depend. Most won't figure out what's happening, and at the most they'll just feel a small chill. Someone with great aura control may realize what's going on, but they probably won't know how to track it back to you," walking over to the worried girl, Clare pulled the blindfold back into place. "Anyways, it's not like you'll be focusing on other people's auras. Once you get used to it we'll start on feeling for inanimate objects."

"What about Grimm? They don't have auras. How can I fight them if I can't sense where they are?" The silence stretched out for so long that Weiss worried that Clare had left.

"Grimm are easy to sense, once you get the hang of it. You just have to find the nothingness, the shadow in the world, and you'll know where they are," a hand patted her shoulder. "But for now, let's run the same test a few more times and then call it a night."

"Okay," activating her aura, Weiss let it travel out, much faster than before. A triumphant smile spread across her face as she found her target again and again.

* * *

Two hours flew by before Clare ended the lesson. Sneaking back into her dorm room, Weiss was glad to see that all of her teammates were still deep asleep. Quietly changing into her nightgown, she slipped into bed. Activating her aura repeatedly was exhausting, and she could feel sleep creeping up on her. Closing her eyes, she let a contented smile cross her face.

Her next lesson would be tonight, and she couldn't wait. Weiss wasn't so foolish to think that spending too much time with Clare would be safe, but it was undeniable that the older woman's knowledge was useful. Soon she would be strong enough to protect her friends, even the Ruby of her dreams.

* * *

Sitting under the clear night sky Clare stretched and sighed peacefully. Cracking her neck, she sent her aura racing out, quickly locating a familiar storm of an aura. Leaning back onto the grass, Clare pushed her sunglasses up so the she could watch the stars. "That's all for tonight. I told you it'd be fine, didn't I?"

"You showed that you can be around one student after being ordered to not harm them," clothes rustled as Glynda approached the open cliff top from some nearby trees. Stopping a few feet from the grinning woman, she frowned. "Pardon me if I'm not impressed with your newfound respect of orders."

Clare's eyes crinkled in amusement. "So I guess that means that I'm not off the hook yet?" Staring down, the blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not. Be thankful that I even agreed to let you do this," Glynda glanced at her scroll and sighed. "We should go, it's late and we have much to do tomorrow," groaning, the tall huntress slowly stood.

"Please no. I'm not going to survive if you keep having me 'help' with your presentations," stumbling from an invisible push on her back, she grinned at the blonde. "I'm moving, I'm moving."

"We weren't the only ones here, by the way," Clare shrugged.

"I know. It was just a little mouse, nothing to worry about," looking up at the sky one more time, she watched the moon for a moment before slipping her sunglasses down. "Hey Glyn, the moon is beautiful, isn't it?" Glancing up, Glynda hummed a quiet agreement as they left the cliff behind.

* * *

Morning was greeted by a smiling Weiss, still joyful from her successful night. Not even Yang's half-asleep insults dampened her mood as she hurried her team to be ready for the day. Once the blonde and the faunus were out the door, the heiress started heading for breakfast herself. A light tug on her jacket made her pause.

"Ruby? Is something the matter?" The hold on her jacket released, and instead gripped her hand. Ruby wove their fingers together and looked at Weiss with worry lines on her forehead.

"Yeah, there is. I woke up last night to use the bathroom, and I saw the you weren't in bed," the red-cloaked girl took a step closer. "Is there something wrong? You can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?"

"It's... It's nothing, Ruby. I woke up and couldn't sleep, so I took a walk," looking away from her partner, Weiss winced at how easily the lie slipped from her lips. While she didn't look fully convinced, Weiss knew Ruby wouldn't question her. "Don't worry about it. Now, let's go to breakfast," pulling away, she headed for the door.

Ruby stood frozen, her empty hand held out towards the disappearing white back, fingers grasping only air. Quickly swiping at her prickling eyes, she hurried to follow her partner.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter completed, yay! I accidentally fell asleep while writing this chapter (maybe I shouldn't write in the middle of the night), and ended up having to edit out a huge chunk of that just said 'Weissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss'. To answer your question about the prosthetic, guest, it's just a really high-quality glass eye.


	8. Chapter 8

A week passed in a flurry of activity. After three days Weiss was allowed to stop wearing the eyepatch, though she did keep it, tucked safely away in her desk. Each night she snuck out of the dorm and trained with her new teacher, which had an unexpected benefit: when she returned to her room and went to bed, she was so exhausted that she wasn't having nightmares every night. Classes were mostly more of the same, long storytimes from Professor Port and overcaffeinated discussions on history from Professor Oobleck. The only thing that was different was combat class. After watching team RWBY and Clare's one-sided fight, most of the students had gained an understandable fear of the tall huntress. Taking that into account, Goodwitch had limited Clare's involvement with the class. Most days saw her not even sitting in on the class, and when she did attend the blonde professor sat her down on the sidelines with threats of decapitation hanging over her if she dared move. On the rare occasion she was allowed into the arena, it was to be used as a living training dummy for Goodwitch to show techniques on. Needless to say, the blonde witch didn't hold back.

Weiss winced as the class watched the combat professor give a live demonstration of the effects of lightning dust on a living person. After spending every night training with her, Weiss had to admit that she was starting to have mixed feelings about Clare. The slight shiver of fear Weiss got when looking at the huntress hadn't gone away, especially when she took care of the Grimm that came too close while they were training. She wore a grin as she ripped the enemies to pieces, a cold and emotionless smile that chilled the heiress when she saw it. But when she was teaching Weiss, it seemed like a switch was flipped and her seriousness was replaced with the kind patience of a mentor. Honestly, when she was focused on teaching she sort of reminded Weiss of someone. Glancing to her right, she watched the emotions flicker across her partner's face: wide-eyed shock, open-mouthed awe, grinning excitement, and a twinkle of amusement.

Knowing that it would be a while before she'd possibly be called on, Weiss closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, slowly reaching out to feel around her. After two nights of practice, Clare had taught her how to feel without having to activate her aura completely and lighting up like a christmas tree. Just a sliver of aura, and she could feel the world around her. The chairs and floor were solid weights under her icy touch, and she reached out to practice finding others' auras. Lightly trailing across the closest one on her left, she felt the warm and soft fur of Blake's. Going farther, a blast of Yang's firey aura, hot even while unactivated, pushed her back. Sliding right, she slowly touched Ruby's. It was her favorite by far, the velvety feeling reminded her of flower petals. Ruby shivered slightly, and Weiss pulled her icy touch back. Weiss smiled slightly at her success. Clare had recommended using her aura a few times a day to strengthen her stamina, and it seemed to be working. It was a bit annoying that the huntress wanted Weiss to tell her whenever the heiress practiced, but it could be worse. Watching the woman spasming the floor after a particularly brutal jolt, Weiss thought back to a conversation they had had.

* * *

"Up, Snowflake, the Grimm aren't going to find themselves."

Weiss glared from her position on the ground. When she had told Clare that she wanted to learn how to sense for Grimm, she hadn't expected to be shoved off the cliff and literally thrown into monster-infested woods. It was hard, she realized quickly, to reach her aura out while she was moving. Blindly wandering around, she had walked into a beowolf without sensing it. Whipping out Myrtenaster, she had almost pulled off her blindfold before she remembered the whole reason she was there. The battle had been uncomfortably one-sided, with the heiress barely able to get her guard up in time when attacked and unable to land a hit at all, until her aura touched nothingness. Suddenly understanding why the older huntress couldn't describe the feeling of Grimm, she lunged forward, stabbing straight into the heart of the darkness. A pained cry and the beowolf slumped to the ground, dissolving in front of unseeing eyes. Unfortunately its cry had alerted others in the area, and a simple duel had turned into a three-on-one battle.

"I hate you," Clare grinned at the panted response. She'd only shown up once Weiss had finished off the Grimm, so the heiress' response wasn't a surprise.

"I know," leaning down, she pulled the white-haired girl to her feet and took off the blindfold. "You get it now?" Weiss nodded slowly. "Good, then let's get out of here. There's a tree nearby we can hang out in while you try to locate more Grimm." Reaching the tree quickly, they took up residence in its upper branches, with Clare pointing in a random direction and Weiss saying whether or not she could sense a Grimm. An hour passed like that, and Weiss glanced over at her mentor to see her adjusting her sunglasses' position.

"Are you blind?" Weiss slammed a hand over her treacherous mouth, but the question was already out. Clare tilted her head and looked at the panicking girl. "I mean, I assumed since you always wear those glasses and you know how to use this technique, that maybe you couldn't see..." Realizing she was just digging herself deeper, Weiss shut up. A few painfully long moments of silence passed.

"I'm not blind. Though it is hard to see with these on," she gestured to her eyewear. "I've always worn sunglasses, but when I realized they were limiting my nighttime fighting abilities, I tried to find a way to deal with it. I've always been excellent at controlling my aura, so it wasn't hard to learn how to use it to see."

"But, why wear them in the first place?" Shrugging, Clare reached up and pulled them off, giving Weiss a long stare. "Oh," Weiss' voice sounded small, even to herself. "You're..."

"Mhmm. It's just easier to wear sunglasses, I've found. And I do like them," replacing them on her face, she shot a grin at Weiss. "They make me look cool." The rest of the night passed quickly, and without any more intrusive questions.

* * *

Silver eyes watched the smiling heiress calmly. Following her partner's gaze, Ruby found herself looking at Professor Goodwitch's personal victim. She frowned. After everything that had happened, Weiss was the only person who would approach the dangerous woman, even taking time after class to speak to her. Ruby had spotted the two of them talking in the halls once, and she knew Weiss' nighttime absences involved the leather-clad huntress. Heterochromic hair bounced as Ruby watched her jump up from the floor, whispering something to the professor that earned her another zap. Ruby's eyes narrowed as class ended and Weiss made a beeline for the arena floor.

"I don't like her," Ruby muttered under her breath.

"What was that, lil' sis?" Ruby looked up to see Yang and Blake both standing over her, ready to go. She forced a smile.

"Nothing, let's go," jumping up, she headed for the door. A hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Don't you want to wait for Weiss?" Ruby' smile faltered, and she shook her head. Watching the heiress speak to their professor's assistant, she missed the look that past between Yang and Blake. Throwing an arm around cloak-covered shoulders, the blonde steered her out of the room, not stopping until they were sitting comfortably on a bench outside. Blake had opted to head for their shared room, so the two sisters sat alone. "So, you want to talk about what's been bugging you? Because something is obviously wrong," Ruby started to argue, but paused when she saw the concerned look on Yang's face. Ruby sighed, knowing that there was no way to get out of this.

"It's about Weiss..."

"Well, duh," at an annoyed glare, Yang shut up, miming locking her lips.

"She's been really distant ever since that fight. I thought maybe she was just upset about getting hurt, but now she's talking with that huntress, the person who hurt her and she doesn't seem to care. I thought she wanted space, but what if I was wrong?" Ruby looked up at her sister with tear-filled eyes. "I wanted to be the person to support her if she needed it. I'm her partner, I should be the person she comes to first. B-but then I see her with Clare and it _hurts_. And I don't know why." Yang blinked at the rush of words, slowly processing them.

Muttering a quiet 'no way', Yang gave Ruby a hug, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "Ruby, sweetie, what do you feel when you're with Weiss? What do you think of her?"

"... I'm happy. Even when she's yelling at me, I know it's just cause she cares. I like how she lets her guard down sometimes and laughs or smiles, and it's blinding. I like it when we hold hands and at first her hands are really cold, but they heat up as we walk," Ruby smiled shyly at her memories. "I like how being with her makes me feel so nice and warm." Bringing her focus back to Yang, she looked at her quizzically. "But why are you asking about that?"

"No reason, no reason, just wondering how much you li-, I mean, how much you care about your partner," Yang let out a soft sigh of relief. At least it didn't sound like she'd have to give Ruby 'The Talk' anytime soon. "I'm sure Weiss cares about you too. Knowing the Ice Queen, she's probably been trying to find out that woman's weakness so she can exploit it next time they fight," giving her sister one last pat on the should, Yang stood and stretched. "If it's still bothering you, how about you talk to her after our practical combat exam?"

Ruby smiled at the reminder. Professor Goodwitch had decided that all the teams would have to prove their mettle by surviving alone in the Emerald Forest for three days, and eliminate a certain number of Grimm while out there. Most of the other teams had already had their turn, and team RWBY was up tomorrow. Three days of fighting Grimm was just what the doctor ordered. Jumping up, she wrapped her arms around Yang.

"Thanks, Yang. I'm going to go make sure we're all ready for tomorrow!" Watching her zoom off, Yang chuckled as rose petals floated to the ground.

"Anytime, sis, anytime."

* * *

"Water? check. Sleeping bags? Check. Clean underwear?"

"Do you have go over that list again?" Weiss sighed, exasperated at Ruby's antics. "We have everything we'll need." Yang looked up from her position on Blake's bed, legs thrown over the faunus and head hanging off the edge.

"Maybe you should chill, Ruby. It's a bad sign if Weiss thinks you're over-planning." Ruby stuck her tongue out, and Yang responded in kind. "We're leaving in less than an hour. I think we'll survive if we happen to forget anything. Anyways, all I need are these babies," flexing her biceps, she smirked at the small chuckle that slipped out of her partner. Slipping her scroll into her pocket, Ruby nodded and sat on the edge of Weiss' bed.

"I know, I'm just so excited! This is our first solo mission, without a professor to keep an eye on us, and I want it to go perfectly." Blake glanced up from her book.

"We'll still be monitored, so it's not like it'll be an actual solo mission," Ruby opened her mouth to argue, but the beeping of her scroll cut her off. Reading the message quickly, she jumped up.

"That was Professor Goodwitch, it's time to go!" Grabbing their weapons and bags, team RWBY headed out. Crossing the gardens on their way to the Beacon Cliffs, where their practical would begin, Ruby glanced up at the barely visible shattered moon hanging low in the sky and smiled. Three days of spending time with her team and fighting Grimm? Sounds perfect.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the followers and favorites folks! This started out as a little scene that stuck in my head, so I wanted to write a story that it would fit into... And somehow it turned into this (the scene hasn't even shown up yet *sighs*). Ah well, it's fun to write, and that's all that matters, right?


	9. Chapter 9

Emerald leaves rustled quietly in the night air. Soft moonlight fell through branches, barely lighting the forest floor. Out of the darkness trudged a single shadow, white facial bones almost glowing in the pale light and red eye lit like embers. Pausing, the young beowolf sniffed the air, ears flicking back and forth to pick up any unusual sounds. When it determined nothing was out of the ordinary, it continued its walk, flinching at the sudden 'crack' as it stepped on a fallen branch.

It barely registered the two flashes of color before they struck. A streak of ivory slammed into its throat, cutting off any chance to call for help. Crimson flower petals floated in front of its eyes, and a sharp pain sliced into its side, quickly followed by the agonizing realization that it couldn't feel its hind legs. Dragging itself by its forearms, it reached towards the pillar of white in front of it. Deflecting its claws easily, the pillar leaned forward, driving its sword between bone plates and into the beowolf's head.

"Great, another Grimm down! Only three more to go!" Weiss glared at her excited partner, quickly wiping her blade and returning it to her side.

"If you had waited, like I suggested, we could have tracked this one back to its pack, and then we'd be finished," Ruby shuffled her feet and gave her best 'I'm sorry' puppy eyes. Weiss looked away quickly, but it was too late. The anger left her body as she looked back at her partner. It wasn't completely her fault Weiss was mad. Looking for Grimm with her aura was taking a lot more out of the heiress than she would care to admit, and it was giving her a headache. "Come on, we're heading back to camp. Blake has probably gotten dinner ready, and we haven't seen any other Grimm nearby, so let's call it a night." Perking up, Ruby jumped forward to walk next to Weiss as they headed south, back towards their campsite. A few minutes of silence passed before the energetic girl couldn't take it anymore.

"So, how have you been, Weiss?" The heiress glanced at her partner.

"I've been fine."

"Good, good. What do you think of this practical so far? I mean, we only have half a day of it left, and I think it's been pretty fun."

"I haven't showered in three days, and when we're not out hunting Grimm we have to deal with a bored Yang and her puns," Ruby's smile withered, but Weiss wasn't done. A slight smile danced on her lips, drawing Ruby's eye. "It hasn't been all bad though, not having to worry about class and sleeping under the stars is nice." Beaming, Ruby reached out and grabbed Weiss' hand, pulling her along as she ran towards their camp in the distance. Broken stone walls stood tall, lit by a small fire in the center of the ruins, and as they got closer the partners could see the second half of team RWBY waving at them.

"There you guys are! I was beginning to think that I'd have to eat this soup all by myself!" Blake looked up from the cooking pot at Yang's comment, ears twitching in amusement under her bow.

"'All by yourself', huh?" Passing full bowls to the returning girls, Blake held a third bowl just out of the blonde's reach. "I remember a certain someone whining that we couldn't eat until her sister was back, safe and sound." The faunus tried her best, but the crestfallen look on her partner's face and begging eyes broke her resolve, and she slowly passed the soup over. Perking right up, Yang dug in. "So did you teach that look to Ruby, or did you pick it up from her?" Yang grinned around the bowl.

"That's a secret," sighing, Blake turned to her own bowl. The rest of dinner passed quietly, the only sounds the crackling fire and the slurping of soup. After cleaning up team RWBY held their nightly meeting, comparing fights and counting up the defeated Grimm.

"So we just need to knock out a couple more Grimm? Easy," Yang grinned, slamming her fists together. "How about we just head into the woods right now and kick ass? Then we can relax until time's up." Ruby frowned at her sister's violent plan.

"I don't know Yang, it's probably better if we wait until dawn."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Yang," Weiss glared as the other girls stared at her, shocked. "What? We're more likely to find Grimm at night, so we would be able to cross the last three off the list quickly." Blake nodded slowly.

"It would be nice to not have to worry about meeting the quota in the morning," Ruby's shoulders slumped. Three against one, and while she was the leader, Ruby knew that eventually they'd talk her into it. It'd be better to just give up now.

"... Okay, but we're not going to go too far, and if we don't see any Grimm after a few minutes we're coming back and waiting 'til dawn," nodding in agreement, the rest of her team quickly gathered their weapons and stood, waiting for her to lead. Standing slowly, Ruby left the warmth of the fire and walked into the dark forest.

* * *

"And that's five! Done, with extra!" Yang clapped, grinning at the pile of disolving beowolves. Looking over her shoulder, she gave Ruby a thumbs up. "And you thought this was a bad idea."

"Yang, we literally stumbled on this pack. If we hadn't be ready, we could have gotten hurt," the blonde waved off the concern, Ember Celica clicking back into its inactive form. Throwing her arms around her partner and sister, she turned them towards camp.

"You worry too much. We were _looking_ for Grimm, remember? They wouldn't have caught us unaware." The red-clad girl looked around warily before putting her weapon away.

"Let's just get back to camp quickly," she walked three steps before realizing they were missing someone. Whipping around, she saw Weiss standing still, looking from the pile of Grimm up to the moon, and back again. "Hey Weiss, you okay?" Weiss blinked and shook herself.

"I'm okay, just thinking..." Ruby moved to her side, gently pulling her towards their teammates retreating backs.

"C'mon let's go get some sleep," smiling, Weiss nodded.

"Yes, that soun-" eyes widening, she froze in place. A golden orb floated inches behind Ruby's head. "RUBY, MOVE!" The words barely left her throat before all hell broke loose.

* * *

"I'm telling you Blake, I think our little leader has a sort-of crush on the Ice Queen," Blake smirked at her partner's loud whisper.

"Just because Ruby likes her partner doesn't mean it's romantic." Yang blew a raspberry.

"You weren't there. I'm telling you, if Ruby wasn't so innocent, I'd be really wor-"

"RUBY, MOVE!"

Spinning around at the yell, they watched as Ruby and Weiss dodged a death stalker's attack, scrambling for their weapons. Sharing a quick glance, the faunus ninja and blonde brawler leapt forward to help. Slamming into a claw, Yang let loose a flurry of punches. While they didn't harm the huge Grimm, they did draw its attention away from her sister. Jumping away from the swinging claw, she got her first good look an their opponent. It didn't look as big or as old as the one they had fought during initiation, but it still looked tough. Ducking a stinger strike, Yang ran over to where Ruby was shooting Crescent Rose, bullets bouncing off the thick armor harmlessly.

"I'm beginning to think that you may have been right, lil' sis," Ruby glanced at her, unamused.

"Does that mean next time you'll listen to me?" Yang gave a one-shouldered shrug before throwing herself back into the fray. Eyes sweeping the area, Ruby took stock of the field. They weren't in a clearing, which limited the reach of the death stalker but also team RWBY's movements. Yang and Blake were moving swiftly, switching who struck the Grimm next so that its attention was divided between the two of them. They both seemed to be ready to fight, but it had been a long and tiring day for all of them, and Ruby winced as she saw Blake barely dodge the swinging tail. Looked away from the Grimm, she spotted her partner a few yards away, supporting the other two with glyphs and well-timed ice shields. Sweat beaded on the heiress' forehead and her teeth were gritted together, the only two visible signs that she was reaching her limit. They had to finish this fight quickly. Shifting Crescent Rose to its scythe form, Ruby ran behind the Grimm, hoping to strike one of its less armored areas.

Weiss cursed under her breath, throwing a haste glyph under Yang, who used the boost to leap over a snapping claw. Glancing at Myrtenaster, she saw that her dust supplies were worryingly low. Only a few more glyphs and she'd be useless. Carelessly flinging her aura out, she searched for the approach of any other Grimm. Not sensing any other danger, Weiss breathed a sigh of relief, and then screwed her eyes shut as her headache gave her a fresh jolt of pain. Losing focus, she swayed in place, doing her best to not pass out. A shout from Yang snapped her eyes open, and she stared up at the death stalker, who had decided the white target would be easiest to take out. As it's red eyes glowed, Weiss formed a glyph on the ground, tossing herself high above the striking claw. And right into the path of its tail.

Weiss struck the ground, hard. Gasping for breath, she tried to turn her head to see where she'd been hit, but all she could tell was that it had pierced her left shoulder. As the stinger ripped itself from her flesh, she cried out and tried to roll away. Left arm hanging uselessly, Weiss managed to sit up as her teammates threw themselves at the Grimm, trying to distract it. But it had found the weakest opponent, and it wasn't about to let her get away. Weiss watched in horror as Yang and Blake were smacked into nearby trees, Yang hitting the trunk and sliding down while Blake ended up suspended in the branches. Gripping her rapier awkwardly in her right hand, Weiss glared at the oncoming Grimm. If she was going down, she was going to do her damnedest to take it down with her. Making it to a half-crouched position, she lunged forward as the death stalker reached out to crush her in its claw. Closing her eyes, she extended her arm and waited for the pain.

 _CRUNCH_.

The sickening sound of ripping flesh and breaking bones filled her ears, and half a second passed before Weiss realized she didn't feel anything. Opening her eyes, her good eye settled first on Myrtenaster, miraculously lodged in one of the Grimm's eyes, causing it to try to scratch at its face instead of attacking. Feeling something warm, her eye drifted down to the ground in front of her. Staring blankly at the slim red and black object, her brain refused to recognize what she was looking at.

"Weiss, you've gotta move!" Tearing her eye away from the object, she looked at Ruby, who was leaning heavily on her scythe. The young girl's eyes were barely focusing and her breathing was harsh, but she still managed to send a small smile to her partner. Weiss nodded and stood shakily, just as the death stalker freed the sword from its eye. Enraged, it flung its stinger straight at Weiss. In a burst of rose petals Ruby tackled her partner, tossing Weiss to the ground as the Grimm struck. Laying on the forest floor, the heiress could only stare as her nightmares became real. Ruby hung limply from the stinger for what felt like an eternity, before gravity took over and dragged her off. Hitting the ground with a soft thud, the red-colored girl's tattered cloak spread out over her.

"RUBY!" Weiss crawled towards her partner, making it a few feet before the clattering of the death stalker distracted her. Looking at the monster, Weiss made up her mind. Reaching for the nearest weapon she turned to face the Grimm, letting out a bestial howl before her world went red.

* * *

A/N: Welp, that happened. Fight scenes are tough to write, I keep wanted to just explain everything with sound effects. Swoosh, clang, bam! Yeah, that would be hard to follow, so I guess I'll stick with actual words.


	10. Chapter 10

Repetitive beeps slowly drew her from the dream world. Eyes opening slowly, the girl winced in pain. It felt like her whole body had been trampled by goliaths. Focusing on her surroundings to distract herself from the pain, she could tell that she was in the infirmary. Again. Trying to lift her hands to her head, the injured girl realized that both her hands were clutched by two of her teammates, the raven-haired faunus slumped down in a chair and the blonde half laying on the bed, half sitting on the ground.

"Urgh, what happened?"

Yang's eyes snapped open, and she stared at the bedridden girl. "Oh my god, you're awake," throwing her arms forward, she jerked to a stop just before giving a bear hug. Moving slowly, Yang carefully wrapped her arms around the girl and squeezed softly. "The doc said that you wouldn't be waking up for a few more days."

"Well, I'm awake now. What happened? I remember killing some beowolves and then heading for camp..." Blake and Yang shared a look, the concern easy to see. "Yang, what happened? Where's-" eyes widening in terror, that night's fight came flooding back. Curling forwards, she tried to get her panicked breathing back to normal. Soft voices tried to calm her down and a hand rubbed small circles over her bandaged back.

"Don't worry about that right now, try to relax," Blake's ears were low as she spoke, making her bow droop. "Yang and I had been knocked out during the fight, but Professor Goodwitch had been keeping an eye on us so she showed up to rescue us after you passed out."

"She killed the Grimm?" Yang shook her head, grinning sadly.

"Nah, it was dead before she got there. I woke up to see you lying on the ground, and Crescent Rose sticking out of its head." Blinking, the girl tilted her head.

"But the armor, Crescent Rose shouldn't have been able to cut it."

"It was one hell of a slash, managed to get right between the bone plates. Goodwitch called it a one-in-a-million hit." Nodding her head at Yang's exaggerated description of the battle's end, the bandaged girl froze as she looked at the foot of the bed.

"Yang," the blonde stopped speaking instantly, the fear in the girl's quiet voice evident. Forcing herself to look away from the unnatural fold of the blanket, the dark-haired girl stared up at her sister. "Where's my leg?"

* * *

Ozpin's office was much louder than normal. Procedure was to hold a staff meeting whenever a student was badly injured, but something was different today. The air was almost crackling with emotions. It would be a lie to say that the professors cared for all of their students equally; some liked the strong students, some prefered the booksmart ones. But Ruby Rose was unique. Everyone liked her, her youth and optimism reminding them of why they became huntsmen. So when a single paper was set in front of them, none wanted to be the first to sign it. Oobleck adjusted his glasses, peering at the page.

"Dreadful situation, simply dreadful," Ozpin nodded from his seat at his desk, but slid a pen towards the professors.

"I agree, but there is nothing we can do. Miss Rose's semblance is based on her legs, and without both she will not be able to fight."

"What about a prosthetic? I remember one young lad who-"

"Semblances cannot be used on a prosthetic," Ozpin spoke quickly, cutting off Port's story before it could begin. "While it's true that she may be able to walk eventually with one, she will never be strong enough to survive a fight with a Grimm, let alone win." Shoulders slumped as the others realized the truth in the headmaster's words. "We must expel her, for her own good," Oobleck winced at the statement, but slowly reached for the pen. One word froze him in place.

"No."

"'No'?" Ozpin raised his eyebrows. "Glynda, I know this is hard, but this is the only option left."

"No, sir, it's not," standing near the door, she glared at the rest of the room, daring them to argue. "I need to check on something. Don't you dare sign that before I get back." Turning on her heel, she flung the door open with a flick of her crop. Rushing out without a backwards glance, she missed the small sigh of relief that slipped from Ozpin's lips.

Her walk to staff housing was faster than normal, and it was only a few minutes before she threw her door open, stepping into her living room with a bang. Jolted awake by the sound, Clare fell off the couch and groaned, rubbing sleep-filled eyes.

"What the hell, Glyn? I thought you were supposed to be busy today," yawning, she stretched her arms above her head, not paying attention to the witch running her eyes along her body. "Are you checking up on me again? I know I'm not to leave your rooms without permission, so I was just taking a na- WHOA THERE!" All thought processes stopped as a hand grabbed her sweat shirt and yanked it off. Crouching between outstretched limbs, Glynda slowly ran her hand down one bare arm. Clare sat frozen, eyes wide and face red until her brain started working. "Uh, feeling frisky, Glyn? Seems pretty early, and I thought you had to teach a class or somethi-"

"Shut up," Clare clamped her mouth shut. Resting her fingers on the taller woman's wrist, Glynda stared into bright red eyes. "You made this, right?" A moment passed, before Clare nodded slowly. "And it works, without many issues?" Another nod. "And you can make something for someone else, and it would also work?" Clare narrowed her eyes.

"What's going on, Glyn? You've never been interested before." A minute of eye contact passed, before the blonde slumped and rested her head against her captive's shoulder. Unsure of what to do, Clare slowly wrapped an arm around her and patted her back.

"One of my students, Ruby Rose, was hurt during a practical. That's why I haven't been here the last few nights. It's... It's bad. She lost a leg," Clare nodded slowly, reaching her aura out and rubbing her hand in a small circle in an attempt to comfort Glynda. The blonde sighed softly, relaxing as a wave of tranquility washed over her. Realizing what was happening, she glared up at the grinning huntress. "Stop it, you ass. You know I hate it when you do that," humming quietly, Clare pulled her aura back, taking the tranquility with it.

"So that's why you need me," she let out a soft sigh, before untangling their bodies to stand. "I can't promise anything, but I'll do what I can." Slipping on her sunglasses, she gave the woman still on the floor a small smile as she walked to the door. "Don't worry, Little Red seemed tough when we fought. She'll be fine no matter what."

"Clare."

The huntress shook her head, hand resting on the doorknob. "Don't thank me yet, I still don't know if this'll work," Glynda let out a soft laugh, and held up a bunch of cloth.

"Not that. You're forgetting your shirt," looking down and groaning, the shirtless woman walked back and collected it. Reaching up, Glynda pulled the embarrassed woman's head down. "And thank you," the words were said softly, barely a whisper in a ear. Leaving the woman to pull herself together, Glynda started the walk back to Ozpin's office.

She had an expulsion to stop.

* * *

Ruby looked around the now quiet room. After many tears and apologies, she'd been able to talk Yang and Blake into heading back to the dorms for some rest. It helped that one of the doctors had come in and said that if they kept the noise up it may wake up the other patient. Looking to her right, Ruby's heart hurt as she looked at her sleeping partner.

After she had been stabbed by the death stalker and passed out, Weiss had apparently lost it, grabbing Crescent Rose and attacking without thinking. It was blind luck that the scythe had found one of the few weak spots, killing the Grimm before it could get another good hit in. An inch off, and it wouldn't have been a Grimm lying dead in the woods. Wincing at the thought, Ruby watched as Weiss' chest slowly rose and fell, bandaged shoulder peaking out from under the hospital gown. She'd used up a lot of aura and the doctors expected her to sleep for at least one more day, but she would recover. A few days of rest and she'd be back in action, wielding her rapier and tossing glyphs right and left.

Ruby's eyes fell on the foot of her bed. It had come as an unwelcome shock, but she knew that if she had to do it all over, she'd do it again. Throwing herself into the claw of a death stalker was idiotic, Ruby had to admit, but it kept Weiss from getting killed. And she'd do anything to keep her partner alive.

"Weiss is right, I really am a dolt," Ruby spoke softly, just in case it could bother her sleeping roommate.

"Could be worse, you could be an ass," jerking her head up at the low voice, Ruby stared as Clare quietly entered the room. Sitting down in a chair on the right side of the bed, she gave Ruby a once-over. "You look pretty good from someone who almost died."

"What do _you_ want?" Spitting out the words, Ruby was surprised at how much anger they held. Then again, this was the last person she wanted to see, especially before she got to speak to Weiss.

"Glyn asked me to come see you. May I?" Gesturing at the bed, she waited for Ruby to give a small nod. Pulling the blanket off, she let out a soft whistle. Ruby hissed, eyes wide as she got her first look at the damage. Besides bruises, her legs looked the same until she reached about two-thirds down the thigh. Where her left leg continued like normal, her right leg just ended. The stump was heavily bandaged and Ruby guessed that she must be more heavily medicated than she thought if she really wasn't feeling anything. She reached out to touch it, and a hand gently clamped onto her wrist. Pulling her hand back, she glared at the tall woman.

"Let go."

"Don't touch. People always make things worse by touching," releasing her grip, Clare eyed the stump. "A clean cut, that's a plus, but above the knee means it'll need another joint, and..." Mumbling to herself, the woman pulled out a scroll and started writing things down as she took stock of Ruby's loss. After a few minutes, the dark-haired girl couldn't take it.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed, her worry over waking Weiss overriding her anger at Clare. Twitching, the woman looked up in surprise, as if she had forgotten Ruby was there.

"Getting as much info as I can. I'll also need some measurements, but we can do those later."

"Why do you need info?"

Leaning back in her chair, she looked at Ruby's face. "You want to be a huntress," it wasn't a question, but Ruby nodded anyway. "Your semblance is speed. Without two legs, you can't really use your semblance. And without your semblance, you're nothing more than a little girl with an over-sized weapon." She held a hand up, cutting Ruby's argument off. "It's the truth. You don't have the physical strength of that blonde on your team, and you don't have the dust skills of Snowflake over there. Simply put, without your speed you can't possibly be a huntress." Ruby balled her hands into fists.

"You think I don't know that? I grew up on stories of what happened to injured huntsmen. But I don't care! I have to be a huntress!" Clare eyed the upset girl calmly.

"Why?"

"Because I want to be like the hero in the stories..." one raised eyebrow silenced her normal response to that question, and she stared down at her hands. "B-because I have to be a huntress, no matter what," not looking up, she whispered her answer.

"Good enough for me," Ruby glanced up to see a grinning face looking down on her. Sending a quick message, Clare stuck her scroll back in her jacket pocket. "You're in luck, Little Red, fixing up broken things is what I do best. I need to get some supplies, but then let's look into making a Ruby 2.0." A groan from the other bed surprised them, and Clare stood quickly, tossing the blanket back over Ruby and heading for the door. "I'll let you deal with your teammate. Right now I need to see a woman about a toolset." With a short wave she fled, leaving Ruby to explain everything to the heiress. Ruby sighed, and turned her attention to her sleeping partner.

* * *

A/N: You guys were quiet after the last chapter. Waiting to see if I pulled another trick like Weiss' eye? Unfortunately Ruby's leg can't just be popped back into place.


	11. Chapter 11

Blake sighed and closed her book. After staring blankly at the same page for five minutes, it was clear that she wouldn't be doing any reading today. Looking up from her bed, the faunus watched her partner. She sat in the open window, golden locks dancing in the light breeze. The brawler was unusually quiet, staring sadly down at the ripped red cloth clutched in her hands. Blake sat up, perching on the edge of her bed.

"Yang," the lack of response didn't surprise the faunus. "Yang," reaching out, she rested her hand on the blonde's leg. Slowly lilac eyes met amber ones. "Talk to me."

"I couldn't protect her," it was said so quietly, so unlike Yang's normal tone. "I'm her big sister, I'm supposed to keep her safe. But what did I do? Get knocked out by a damn death stalker! We beat one of those our first week here," she brushed her hair out of her face, eyes glistening with tears.

"We weren't alone back then. We won because we worked with team JNPR," shifting, Blake caught Yang's free hand in her own and gave a light squeeze. Yang's gaze fell back down to the cloth in her hand.

"I still should've protected her."

"You did the best you could. We were all tired, and we all made mistakes. Just be happy that we all survived," lilac eyes flashed red.

"She lost her leg!" leaping up, she yelled at her partner. Blake's bow twitched, but she didn't let go of Yang's hand or drop her gaze. "How is she going to fight with only one leg?!"

"I don't know. But this is Ruby we're talking about, do you really think she's going to just sit around and sulk?" A blast of heat struck the faunus, but quickly faded as tears fell.

"I know, I know. B-but, her _leg_..." Looking up at the sniffling blonde, Blake held her free arm out. Yang fell into the hug, crushing their bodies together and crying into jet-black hair. Blake leaned back, pulling the two of them onto her bed, and wiggled until they were both laying comfortably on the bed. Petting golden hair and whispering calm, meaningless words, she let some of her own tears leak out as she comforted her partner. Blake's eyes landed on the ripped cloth still in Yang's hand, and an idea popped into her head. Taking it gently she held it above them, looking at the holes and tears.

"We can't do anything about her leg," Yang opened her eyes at the words whispered in her ear. "But we can at least fix this for when she gets back." Smiling softly, Yang thanked her partner with the best way she knew how: a giant hug.

* * *

A huge black feather fluttered in the air, landing gently as the flying Grimm shook the limp red body held in its claws.

"It's just a dream."

Legs frozen to the ground, Weiss could only watch as the nevermore shifted, turning into a king taijitu in the blink of an eye. Ruby's position changed as well, hanging half out of the snake's mouth, white fangs stabbing through her chest.

"It's just a dream."

Changing again, Ruby hit the ground, skewered by ursa claws. Head tilted towards Weiss, the cloak-wearing girl stretched a hand out, silently pleading for help. Weiss fought her still body, trying to move, but knew that it wouldn't help.

"It's just a dre-"

Weiss stared up a the dripping red tail, crimson cloth trailing after it as it swung back and forth. Her normal chant died on her lips. This wasn't one of her nightmares. Weiss watched helplessly as the memory replayed over and over in front of her eyes.

'No...' her mouth moved, but Weiss couldn't hear her own voice.

"Weiss."

Again and again, Ruby was stabbed by the death stalker.

'No more, please...'

"Weiss."

Again and again, Weiss could only stare in horror.

'Someone, make it stop.'

"WEISS!"

Jerking awake, she sat up quickly and slammed her head into something. Wincing, Weiss looked up to see Ruby hovering over her, rubbing her forehead. Mouth hanging open, she stared up at her partner.

"Ouch. Oh good, you're awake," Ruby smiled. "It sounded like you were having a nightmare, so I wanted to wake you up, but you were pretty deep asleep, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to-" pale arms wrapped around the younger girl, dragging her into a hug. Upsetting her already unstable position, Ruby fell onto the bed, landing roughly on Weiss. The heiress let out an 'oof', but didn't release her hold. Putting her arms around Weiss, Ruby leaned into the embrace, enjoying the cold touch of her partner and the warmth flowing from her own heart. After a few silent minutes, Weiss' grip lessened and she pulled back to look up at Ruby.

"You're alive," Ruby giggled at the look of amazement directed at her.

"Well, of course I'm alive."

"B-but, I saw you get stabbed!" Ruby shrugged.

"I got better," at the frosty glare, Ruby decided it was best to explain everything. Repeating what Yang had told her, she quickly told Weiss what had happened, watching as the girl's eyes got wider and wider. "... and then I told them to go get some rest," Ruby wrapped up her story, leaving out her meeting with Clare. Helping or not, she didn't want Weiss thinking about that woman more than she had to. Weiss looked overwhelmed.

"I killed the death stalker... With Crescent Rose?" Apparently that was the one thing she couldn't believe. Ruby laughed and nodded, making Weiss look down at her hands in surprise. Eyes traveling back up to look at Ruby, they froze on her uncovered leg. "Ruby..." unable to find the words, she trailed her left hand lightly over the bandages. Searching for other injuries, the white-haired girl lifted her other hand to Ruby's shirt, pushing it up to see her torso wrapped in white cloth. Placing her right hand against the bandaged stomach, Weiss looked up at silver eyes. Ruby swallowed, feeling her cheeks heating up.

"I'm okay. The stinger missed most of my organs, and the doctors were able to patch everything up. I just have to take it easy for a few weeks, and I'll be fine," smiling slightly, Ruby rested a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Anyways, it's not like I'm the only one who got stabbed by that Grimm." Leaning forward, she rested her forehead against Weiss', happy to see a pink tinge to the heiress' face. "We're both alive. That's all that matter." Humming a small agreement, Weiss closed her eyes, content to keep in contact with her partner. After a few seconds of watching Weiss, Ruby let her own eyes shut. In their own world, they didn't hear the small click of the door.

"I have good news, Miss Rose, it's been decided that yo-" eyes snapping open, both girls whipped their heads to look at the speaker. Ozpin took a long sip of his coffee, eyebrows sitting high above his glasses the only sign of his surprise, before speaking again. "I do believe the doctors told you no strenuous activities while you're healing." Letting out a squeak, Ruby threw herself off Weiss' bed, leaning on a counter as she tried to hop back to her bed. Weiss rose quickly, moving to support Ruby until she was safely in bed. Once she was taken care of, Weiss returned to her own bed, sitting primly on the edge as she looked at Ozpin.

"You were saying something about good news, Professor Ozpin?" He gazed at the red-faced heiress a moment longer, before turning to Ruby.

"Yes. It's been decided that, despite your injury, you will be allowed to remain at Beacon," he paused to let it sink in. "However, once you have sufficiently recovered, you will have to prove that you can still be a huntress. I will determine a test for you, and if you fail you will be expelled." Both girls were shocked at the unheard of decision, but Weiss recovered first.

"So as long as Ruby passes your test, she'll be able to stay as team RWBY's leader?" Ozpin gave a slight nod, and Weiss smiled. "Then there's nothing to worry about. Ruby will pass."

"I do hope you're right, Miss Schnee. Now, I've taken up enough of your time, so I'll let you get back to... resting," another blush crossed the girls' faces as he left, closing the door behind him.

"I guess I'll need to figure out how to pass. I really hope it's not a written test," Ruby grinned, but it faltered at the determined look on Weiss' face.

"I promise you, Ruby, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you pass." An icy fire was burning in her blue eyes, and Ruby couldn't help but nod. With Weiss as her best teammate ever, failure was not an option.

* * *

"Ouch! Dammit, this sucks," Yang yanked the needle out of her finger. Not looking up, Blake passed her another bandage.

"You're worse at this than I expected," finishing up a small mend, Blake moved on to the next tear. Her side of the cloak was almost done, the mended rips barely visible. "I figured that you'd have had to mend a lot of clothes growing up."

"Yeah, well, my dad took care of that," glancing up from her side, Yang grinned sheepishly. Her half looked mostly untouched, the only fix an uneven line of stitches. "Once Ruby was old enough, he taught her how to fix our clothes. He gave up teaching me pretty early on, saying, 'you've inherited my good looks, but your mother's abilities for housework'," Blake laughed softly, and shifted to sit closer to the blonde. Reaching out, she took the needle from Yang's hand.

"Okay, that's enough. I can't take watching this anymore," working quickly, the faunus started mending Yang's half. Blinking, Yang looked from her empty hands to her partner and back again. She grinned as an idea popped into her mind, and she slowly reached towards Blake. "... Yang, what are you doing?"

"Giving you a back rub. I might as well do something useful today," Blake opened her mouth to argue, but a moan slipped out as Yang worked out her knotted shoulders. "Do you want me to stop?" Groaning slightly, Blake shot a glare over her shoulder.

"Don't you dare," returning her attention to the cloak, she went back to work, conscious of the hot hands slowly running across her back, leaving trails of warmth.

* * *

Weiss stared at the infirmary ceiling, listening to the soft snores coming from the other bed. After a quiet hour or so, Ruby had fallen asleep. Weiss stayed up, unable to sleep as the afternoon light fell through the window. It didn't help that whenever she thought about her red-themed leader, her heart skipped a beat. It was a new feeling, but not exactly bad. If she was being honest with herself, Weiss truly enjoyed the time she spent close to her partner. Compared to everyone else, Ruby's touch was nice, and something she looked forward to. The bumped shoulder, the quick hand squeezes, even the random hugs, Weiss liked them all when they came from the silver-eyed girl. Turning to face Ruby, she took in the sleeping girl's features.

"She will be a huntress. I won't let her fail," the whispered words floated in the quiet room.

"Oh good, that will make my life easier," recognizing the voice, Weiss kept her eye on her partner for a few more moments, before turning to the door. "Good to see you awake, Snowflake," entering the room, Clare dropped a duffel bag on the floor and sat on the edge of Weiss' bed.

"What are you doing here? I doubt I'll be able to do any aura training for at least a few days." The leather-clad woman let out a chuckle.

"You're right about that. You shouldn't even think about practicing for a couple days. But, I'm here for Little Red today, not you," grabbing a pillow Clare threw it at the sleeping girl, the pillow hitting its mark with a 'thwump'. Removing the pillow from her face, silver eyes glared at sunglass-covered ones. "Great, you're up. I need those measurements now."

"Measurements?" Weiss watched as Clare nodded, digging through her bag. Pulling out a flexible tape measure, she tossed it at Weiss and pulled out her scroll.

"Yup, need all the lengths and widths of her remaining leg so that she'll match," looking up to see the white-haired girl was still sitting on her bed, Clare waved her towards Ruby. "Hurry up, the sooner I get these numbers the sooner I can get started," it took another hand wave before Weiss moved to stand next to Ruby, and started calling out the measurements. "Glyn's driving me crazy, saying that if I have the time to sit around in our place, then I have the time to be working on this project," she kept talking, but her slip wasn't missed by the two girls.

"You and Professor Goodwitch live together?" Clare looked up from her scroll at the twinkling silver eyes and clicked her tongue.

"Let's just focus on getting the measurements, hmm?" it seemed even full huntresses couldn't fight the strength of Ruby's puppy eyes, as after a few tense seconds Clare sighed and ran a hand through her red and white streaked black hair. "Yes, we're currently living together. It was supposed to be a short-term thing, but after our fight during combat class she decided that I couldn't be trusted to live by myself without causing trouble. So I've been crashing on her couch. Mostly. Now, back to work with you."

"Are the two of you...?" Weiss' hands stayed still as she waited for an answer to her question. Ducking the pillow thrown at her, she kept her cool gaze on Clare.

"That's... Complicated, to say the least. We were close when we were younger, but we parted on bad terms and it'd been a long time since we've spoken. Right now, I think at best Glyn doesn't completely hate having me around. Enough about me, though, if you would please finish the measuring, then I can get back work of fixing you up." Nodding, Weiss went back to using the tape, but Ruby looked towards the tall woman.

"What exactly are you going to do, to 'fix me up'?" Grinning, Clare held her scroll out for them to see, the rough sketch on it enough to make her plan easy to see. Ruby and Weiss stared open-mouthed at the drawing, before looking up at the woman's smiling face.

"Well, I was thinking it'd have to be rose red."

* * *

A/N: I swear, whenever I try to write a scene with Yang and Blake they can't seem to keep their hands off each other.


	12. Chapter 12

Ruby sat on the edge of her bed, staring skeptically at the pile of metal on the tile floor. Glancing up at her partner, she saw her expression mirrored on the heiress' face. Turning in tandem, they looked at the happily humming woman sitting on the floor, tapping on her scroll and tweaking the red-tinted metal. After getting the measurements Clare had disappeared, muttering about coming back once it was finished. It didn't boost Ruby's confidence when the huntress showed up mid morning the next day wearing the same rumpled outfit and sporting a slightly crazed grin on her face.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

Clare waved her hand at Ruby, not bothering to look up. "Of course I know what I'm doing. I just haven't actually done this for someone else before."

Weiss sighed, resting her hand on her forehead. "So this may not even work?"

"That's a possibility," the partners shared a look. The design they'd seen on the scroll had seemed pretty far-fetched, but it was even worse in person. It looked like the huntress had dumped red paint onto thin strips of metal and then glued them together in a way that made a small sort-of leg shape. Ruby poked it with a toe.

"Even if this prosthetic works, it looks way too tiny," Clare finished using her scroll and finally looked up.

"First, it's not a prosthetic. It's a Combat Ready Synthetic Limb, or CRSL, if you will," Clare grinned, pronouncing the acronym as 'crystal'. "Second, it'll be bigger once it's active," Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"You made that name up just now, didn't you?"

"Third," pointedly ignoring Weiss, the woman continued, "if you two keep being negative I'll just take my CRSL and leave, and then you'll get expelled for sure. So, anything else you'd like to say?" Silence met her question, drawing a grin on Clare's face as she held a bundle of leather and buckles towards Ruby. "Great, then let's get you all rigged up," wrapping a band around the girl's stump, she deftly started tightening straps and closing clasps. "This will work for now, but once you get used to using it I'd suggest getting a more permanent attachment point. Nothing worse than being in the middle of a pack of Grimm and having a limb fly off," buckling the last strap, she connected the small metal leg and gave it a light pat before moving to sit on the empty bed. Ruby gave her new leg a wiggle, and watched it swing loosely.

"Now what?" yawning, Clare ran a hand through her tricolored hair and laid back.

"Now you focus your aura into the CRSL, and I take a nap," shifting to lay comfortably on the bed, she missed the incredulous looks from the younger girls. "I stayed up all night to make that, so if you need any help controlling your aura, talk to Weiss. Wake me up when you get it activated."

"You're joking," a snore greeted Weiss' words, and she shook her head in disbelief. Looking at her partner, Ruby gave a slight shrug.

"I guess I'll give it a go," closing her eyes, Ruby concentrated on gathering her aura. Letting her mind empty of everything except a thorn-covered bush, she watched as rose buds bloomed. Feeling the warmth of her aura as the roses reached full bloom, she started to focus it into the attached metal.

Weiss watched small red petals fall from Ruby. Eye traveling to her partner's face, Weiss took in the serene look on her face and felt her heart skip a beat. She wasn't used to seeing Ruby this way, as a young woman. Her normal energetic and childish attitude made Weiss forget that she was growing up and maturing. Remembering the feeling of her partner under her hands, she flushed. Yes, Ruby was definitely maturing.

A sudden rattling drew her attention down to the CRSL. It looked like it was _glowing_. It gave another rattle, and with a hiss it exploded out in a burst of light. Covering her eyes, Weiss looked away until the spots stopped dancing before her eye. Ruby had opened her own eyes and was staring at her lower half in shock.

"Okay, that was kinda awesome," straightening both legs, she wiggled her toes as she took in her new limb. The mess of metal had popped outward when her aura entered it, creating a latticework leg that matched her natural leg's size perfectly. The rough paint job had seemingly burned away, leaving smooth red metal with small carvings on each piece. Running a hand over one piece, she realized that they were roses and petals, carefully worked into the metal. Rotating her ankle, Ruby looked through her leg, the lattice structure leaving more than enough room to see that it was hollow inside. Smiling brightly, she looked at Weiss. "I can't believe it actually worked. How cool is this?"

"Just don't overdo it," laughing at the concern, Ruby jumped up, only to immediately fall as her leg collapsed under her. Weiss' arms shot out, just barely catching her and pulling her close. "What did I just say, you dolt," Ruby grinned sheepishly as she was helped back to her seat on the bed.

"Sorry, Weiss. I thought I'd be fi-" a blast of pain struck her, and the rest of her sentence came out as a ragged gasp. Instantly worried, Weiss sat next to her and took her hand.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" A pained whine was the response, slowly growing until the dark-haired girl was screaming, curled up in Weiss' lap. "Ruby?!"

"Guess she activated it," sitting up, Clare looked at them from the other bed. The heiress glared at her.

"You knew this would happen? Why didn't you warn us?!" Shrugging, the tall woman stooped to look at the CRSL. Placing a hand on it, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The screams faded to whimpers, and finally ceased altogether. Rocking back on her heels, Clare glanced up at Weiss.

"What would you have liked me to say, 'oh, by the way you'll most likely hurt like hell once it starts working, cause it's changing how your aura flows'? I doubt you'd have believed me," the white-haired girl opened her mouth to argue, but quickly closed it. Ruby opened her eye as she regained control over her body, but didn't move from her position on Weiss' lap. "I adjusted your aura so that it should hurt less for a while. The pain will lessen over time. For now, you should rest. You'll have to relearn how to walk once you feel up to it, so enjoy your time in bed," standing up, she stretched. "Well, my part's done. It's all up to you now, Little Red." Grabbing her bag, Clare headed for the door, but a quiet voice stopped her in the doorway.

"Your semblance... It's controlling auras, isn't it?" Laughing, Clare gave a toothy grin.

"Don't be silly, a person can't control someone else's aura. Now, _manipulating_ auras, that's a whole 'nother story," throwing a wave over her shoulder, she left before they could respond.

* * *

The halls were mostly empty as six friends walked through them. As soon as they had finished fixing the cloak, Yang had wanted to go visit Ruby, but when the faunus had pointed out that it was almost nine at night, she'd agreed to wait until the next day. As soon as Yang had woken up she'd dragged her partner out of their room, heading to the infirmary. On the way they'd run into team JNPR, who were more than happy to join them. Grinning broadly, Yang swung the gift-wrapped cloth in her hand.

"Ruby's gonna be so excited to get her cloak back."

Jaune smiled back at the cheerful girl. "So do you know when they're going to let her out of the infirmary?" Blake shrugged, glancing at the other team's leader.

"The doctors didn't seem to know," Yang laughed and nodded.

"Yep, but knowing Ruby, she'll be trying to get out of there as soon as possible. She's never been a fan of hospitals," waving at the on-duty nurse, the blonde led them to Ruby and Weiss' room. Throwing open the door, Yang greeted them with a huge smile. "How are my two favorite invalids doing today?" Ruby smiled at her sister from her spot on the edge of her bed and waved. Weiss didn't bother looking up from the floor as she tied Ruby's boots for her.

"Hey guys, we're doing fine," silence met her response, and Ruby tilted her head at the surprised faces. "Uh, guys? Are you okay?" Blinking away her shock, Yang walked over to the bed.

"Your leg's back."

Weiss sighed, and Ruby shook she head. "That would be impossible, Yang," straightening her leg, Ruby let her friends get a better look. "I just got a replacement," missing her normal tights, it was clear that her leg hadn't magically reattached. A dark leather harness hugged her right leg's stump, and from it extended an intricate red replacement that quickly disappeared into her boot. Pyrrha leaned over Jaune's shoulder to get a better look.

"So the doctors' gave you a prosthetic?"

Two voices rang out simultaneously. "It's not a prosthetic, it's a Combat Ready Synthetic Limb," glancing at each other, the partners shared a smile. Feeling a bit lost, Yang moved on.

"Whatever it is, it looks cool. Does this mean that you'll be back in action soon?" Not waiting for an answer, Yang kept talking, "because me and Blake, well mostly Blake, got this ready for you!" holding out the gift, she grinned down at her sister. Taking it and ripping the package open, Ruby shook out the folded fabric and held it out in front of herself.

"Thanks so much, Yang, Blake," tears glistened in her eyes as she looked at her repaired cloak. It almost looked good as new, all the rips from previous fights fixed. But it was the white design at the cloak's center that drew her eye. Yang rubbed the back of her head, grinning sheepishly.

"Yeah, the hole was too big to mend, so we had to improvise. It was my idea," her partner's elbow hit her in the side, "oh, and Blake was the one who sewed it. Do you like it?" Ruby nodded, a grin plastered on her face as she ran a hand over her rose symbol, the white fabric silky under her touch. It was at just the right height, she realized, and would sit solidly on her back.

"I love it. Where'd you get this fabric?" A shiver ran down her spine as the room's temperature suddenly plummeted. Facing the cause of the cold, Ruby watched the heiress glare at Yang.

"Yes, Yang, where. Did. You. Get. This. Fabric?" Gulping, the blonde shifted to stand behind her partner. Blake shook her head, and quickly got out from between the ice queen and her prey.

"I, uh, I may have gone into your closet," the sound of crackling ice drew their attention to the frost slowly forming on the floor, and Yang rushed to explain herself. "We really needed a sturdy cloth, and none of our stuff would work, so we really had no choice but to use one of your dresses, and look at how happy Ruby is with it, please don't freeze me!" Weiss took a step forward, but a gentle hand on her arm restrained her. Glancing at her partner, the small smile and nod were all it took to drain the anger from Weiss. Sighing, Weiss looked back at Yang, the frost on the floor already melting.

"It's... fine, since Ruby likes it. But don't even think about doing it again," Yang nodded eagerly. "Now that that's out of the way, are you ready, Ruby?" Taking the heiress' offered hand, Ruby nodded and slowly started to stand. Putting weight on her new leg brought the pain racing back, and she knew she would have collapsed again if not for Weiss' support. Letting out a pained hiss, Ruby took her time and eased her weight onto the limb. This time it held and, while it still hurt, she smiled.

"That's step one. Step two is one step," looking at her worried and concerned friends, Ruby gestured at her leg. "I need to learn how to walk again with this thing, so it'll be a little while before I'm a hundred percent. I'm sure it will be fine, I bet it's like riding a bike!" Yang stepped forward and took her sister by the shoulders.

"Ruby," Yang's tone was serious, making everyone in the room hush. "You don't know how to ride a bike." The silence was broken by a snort from Nora, then a chuckle from Blake, and soon the whole room was laughing. Eventually they regained control of themselves, and Yang smiled down on Ruby. "So you're okay?" A slight head shake was the response.

"Not yet, but I will be. Now, how about we get out of here and go grab some lunch?" Murmured agreement greeted her idea, and team JNPR left the room, headed for the cafeteria. Ruby glanced a Weiss, but her partner didn't even look at her as she wrapped an arm around the dark-haired girl, giving her all the support she could need. Taking a deep breath, she moved her new leg in front on herself and took a step. It hurt, but the warmth coming from the normally icy girl next to her was more than enough to encourage her to take another step. One foot after the other, they slowly left the room, Ruby smiling even as she was annoyed at the hobbling pace she set. She was up, she was _walking_ , and it was only a matter of time before she could stand by herself again. Glancing at the girl walking at her side, her smile grew. Then again, maybe it wouldn't hurt to have to lean on her partner for a while.

Blake stood still, watching her blonde partner stand still, with one hand that had been extended to help Ruby. Following her gaze, the faunus watched as the backs of her two other teammate shrank as they limped away. She leaned into Yang and looked up at sad lilac eyes, taking the ignored hand in her own. "Hey, you okay?" Yang quickly wiped her eyes and grinned.

"Yeah, it's just tough, you know, when I realize that Ruby's growing up. She's not gonna need her big sis soon," the blonde let out a yelp as Blake flicked her forehead. Walking towards the door, she pulled Yang forward.

"Enough of that, you'll always be her big sister. And even if she does leave, you'll still have me. Now let's go, before we start worrying everyone," nodding, Yang raced out the door, dragging her partner as she sped towards her friends. Everything wasn't back to normal yet, but it would be eventually.

* * *

A/N: So Ruby's got her cloak back and now has a shiny new leg. My brain came up with the CRSL's name at two in the morning, so I'm just impressed that it was able to spell it correctly.


	13. Chapter 13

Staring straight ahead, Weiss focused on walking down the hall. It was taking everything the heiress had to keep her normal expression, and she really didn't want to deal with Yang laughing if she caught the silly grin Weiss had had sprawled across her face. It really didn't help that with each step she could feel Ruby's warm muscles moving under her arm. Glancing over at her partner, Weiss tried not to jerk back in surprise. Blushing, Ruby timidly smiled at getting caught staring. Unable to help it, Weiss smiled back, feeling blood rush to her cheeks. Yang's voice rang out, pulling them out of the moment.

"And we're at the cafeteria! Nothing personal Ruby, but I hope you heal quickly cause I don't think I can take this slow pace for too long," laughing, they entered the hall and joined team JNPR at their table. Weiss and Yang stayed standing, and went to get their team some lunch. Looking up from her plate, Pyrrha smiled.

"So Ruby, how is your leg feeling?" the cloak-wearing girl shrugged, stretching the leg out under the table.

"It hurts, but I think I'm starting to get used to it," a plate of food appeared in front of her, and she thanked Weiss as she sat down next to her. Chomping on her sandwich, she looked up when Jaune cleared his throat.

"So, how does it work? I mean, it looks really cool, but I've never seen a hollow prosthetic before," Jaune pointed towards her leg. "Most of them are heavy and have big motors or joints, but yours doesn't."

Swallowing, Ruby put her sandwich down. "Honestly, I'm not sure how it works. I had to focus my aura into it, and 'poof', it started working."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "You should probably find out. It wouldn't be good if it broke while on a mission and you didn't know how to fix it," Ruby groaned and nodded.

"You're right. I guess I'll have to go talk to Clare about it," looking up at the mention of the name, Yang's eyes narrowed.

"Clare? You mean that huntress we fought?" Jumping up, she slammed her hands onto the table, red rippling through her irises. "Not a chance, there's no way you're going near that woman!" While team JNPR leaned away from the fiery blonde, Ruby just sighed.

"I don't have a choice. She's the one who made it," Realizing Ruby was right, Yang calmed down slowly. Ruby smiled slightly as her sister sat back down. "I'll be fine. I'm not happy about it either, but she's the only one who would know how to fix it," glancing up from her salad, Weiss looked at her partner's frown and nudged a small plate of cookies closer to her. Perking up instantly, Ruby grabbed one and grinned.

"We'll go see her after we eat. She's most likely sleeping some more, so we'll check the staff quarters."

Hearing the word 'staff', Yang frowned. "Think the two of you will be fine going alone? I have something I need to take care of," Blake smirked.

"You mean hiding from Port because you still haven't finished your paper?" wincing, Yang glared at her partner. Glancing at Ruby, the faunus smiled. "Don't worry, you two go, and I'll make sure she gets her paper turned in." Smiling a quick thanks, Ruby went back to eating. A few minute passed, full of chewing and her friends' conversations. As she finished, Ruby looked at her partner, who stood and helped her up without a word. Once the heiress' arm was securely around her, Ruby waved goodbye to the rest of team RWBY and team JNPR as they headed out. Jaune waited until the white and red girls had disappeared from sight before turning to Yang.

"So what's up with the two of them? They've been acting kinda weird recently." Grinning softly, Yang leaned back in her chair.

"It's nothing to worry about. They're both just growing up," a smooth hand slipped into her own under the table and gave her a quick squeeze. Grin growing wider, she glanced at her partner, before facing the slightly confused Jaune across from her. "So... You guys interested in making a bet?" An excited smile popped onto Nora's face, and they spent the rest of lunch laughing and chatting.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss stood in front of a wooden door, eyeing the nameplate warily. They'd run into Professor Port almost as soon as they'd entered the staff quarters and he had pointed them in the right direction, but it was still a bit nerve-racking to knock on one of their professor's doors. Weiss glanced at the girl she held by the arm. About halfway to their destination Ruby had suggested letting her walk more on her own, so Weiss had unwrapped her arm from around the dark-haired girl's waist and gently taken her by the arm instead.

"Are you going to knock?" Hearing the quiet question, Ruby looked away from the door and at her partner, silver eyes wide with worry.

"How about you knock, Weiss?" The heiress shook her head quickly, and they took a few minutes to look back and forth between each other and the door. A throat clearing behind them froze them in place.

"Maybe you girls would like to move so that I can open my door," jumping to the side, they turned to face their professor. Goodwitch looked down at them over a grocery sack, and swiftly opened her door with her scroll. Pushing it fully open, she gestured at the hall beyond it. "After you. I assume you need to speak to Clare about your leg, Ms. Rose?" Nodding, Ruby scurried as quickly as she could into the room, with Weiss sticking to her side. Shaking her head slowly, the blonde professor followed them into her home.

"Glyn, did you get some of that oil I asked for..." Clare's voice trailed off as she watched three people enter the room from her upside-down position on the couch.

"You have some guests, Clare," barely sparing the half-dressed woman a glance, Goodwitch swept passed her into the small kitchen. Ruby shifted uncomfortably as glowing red eyes looked up at her. A second passed, and the tall woman rolled off the couch and up onto her feet, pulling down her tank top that had ridden up and reaching up to fiddle with two gold rings hanging on a necklace.

"Um, sit down, you two," waving at the couch, she waited until they did just that before taking a seat on the low coffee table in front of them. Tucking her necklace into her top and running her right hand through her hair, she looked at the two girls. "So, you needed to talk?" Ruby barely heard the question, her attention focused on the latticework in front of her. Mostly a matte black, shining silver shown through the many deep scratches that marred the metal. Following her gaze, Clare smiled slightly and wiggled her fingers, throwing reflected light across the walls. Unlike Ruby's, this limb wasn't completely hollow, and pieces of metal and glass could be seen through the openings, some that seemed to be extra supports and some that looked like dust vials. "I did tell you not to worry, I had made CRSLs before."

"Did yours hurt?"

"Yup, it hurt like a bitch," idly, she rubbed the scarred skin where metal met flesh. "It still hurts. The pain will fade, but never really goes away,"

Ruby grimaced, and Weiss reached out to take her hand, giving her a supportive squeeze. Weiss waited until her partner sent her a slight smile before turning back to Clare.

"How do they work? They're not powered with dust like a normal prosthetic."

"Well, that's not entirely correct," leaning forward, the huntress held her arm out so they could get a closer look. "See all the little symbols? They're there to increase the surface area of the metal, so more paint can cover it. I added a bucketful of dust to the paint, which reacts to the person's activated aura to trap part of it in the limb," shifting, she ran a finger over some of the metal strips. "So your aura powers the CRSL, but dust is necessary to keep it working," Weiss' eye fell on her partner's leg.

"So the dust in the paint will need to be replaced?" Clare waved a hand and shook her head.

"Not anytime soon. Eventually you'll need a new coat of dust paint, but it'll be ages before you'll need to worry about it. I put enough dust in yours to last a couple years," stretching, she pointed at Ruby's knee. "It's possible that a strip will break though, so I'll show you how to fix it." Leaning forward, Ruby prepared for the crash course in CRSL care.

Time passed quickly as Ruby and Clare talked. Weiss did her best to pay attention, but most of the conversation went over her head as they discussed different oils and maintenance methods. Eventually she just watched Ruby's animated face as she spoke, enjoying the many changes that crossed her face. Goodwitch had joined them for a while, leaning against the wall and keeping her eyes on Clare, but had disappeared into another room after the first hour. At some point a plate of sandwiches appeared next to the sitting huntress and they all ate while Clare demonstrated how to detach and replace broken pieces on her arm. After covering the mechanical care, she explained a few massages that would help a bit with the pain, which Weiss paid close attention to. Yawning, Ruby glanced up at a hanging clock and blinked. They had talked for almost six hours, and it was near sundown. With a quick goodbye to Clare and Goodwitch, the partners left, headed for their dorm room.

"Glyn," not moving from her position on the table, Clare stared down at her hands. "I think it's time you let me teach these kids something. I've been here over two weeks, and all I've done is sit around," minutes passed without a response, but she sat firm.

"Okay," more of a sigh than a word, the blonde professor watched Clare's shoulder relax at the sound of her voice. "You were called in to teach them some huntsmen skills, so at some point I have to let you do that. Just... don't make me regret trusting you again, okay?" Not waiting for an answer, Glynda headed for her bedroom. Smiling to herself, Clare looked to where the woman had been.

"Never again, Glyn. I promise."

* * *

The academy grounds were mostly empty as they slowly walked toward the dorm. Glancing at the heiress, Ruby grinned.

"Thanks for coming with me. I know you're not super into all the mechanical talk we did," bumping the cloak-wearing girl with her shoulder, Weiss smiled slightly. Shifting her grip so that she held Ruby's hand instead of just her arm, she gave a small squeeze.

"It wasn't too bad. And I know Yang's going to be jealous of us seeing Professor Goodwitch out of her normal outfit," giggling, Ruby nodded.

"I know! I think her hair's even longer than yours."

"And I've never seen her in pants! It was like talking to a completely different person," Weiss smirked. "Speaking of completely different, I don't think I'll be able to look at Clare without thinking of her in those ridiculous 'I heart witches' shorts," giggles turning to full-blown laughter, Ruby and Weiss entered the dorms, waving at some of their friends who were hanging out in the common room. As they neared their room, Ruby slowed, her face turning serious.

"I had no idea the Clare was a faunus. She wears those sunglasses to hide it, like Blake and her bow, right?" Weiss nodded slowly, and Ruby let out a soft sigh. "Then we shouldn't tell Yang and Blake about it. They may be our teammates, but it's not our place to blurt out her secrets," smiling, Weiss gave her hand another squeeze, proud of her partner's maturity. "But we are definitely telling them about those shorts," laughing again, they entered their dorm room. Yang glanced up from a magazine and waved from her seat on the floor, and Blake smiled at them, setting aside the brush she'd been using in Yang's golden mane.

"You two have been gone for a while. Did you get info about your leg?" Nodding, Ruby and Weiss moved to sit on Weiss' bed, and quickly explained their afternoon. Between answering questions from Blake and trying to get Yang to stop whining about missing 'possibly the greatest chance for teacher blackmail ever', two hours flew by, and Ruby was more than ready for some sleep. Using the beds for support, she started to climb up to her bed, only to be stopped by a jerk on her cloak.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Ruby looked at Weiss quizzically. "Um, going to bed?" The white-haired girl shook her head.

"Not up there you're not. Clare specifically said to take it easy, and I think climbing does not fall under 'easy'."

"Then where am I going to sleep?" Ruby followed Weiss' pointing finger and blinked. "B-but, that's your bed."

"While you're healing, it's yours," glancing up at the swinging bunk bed, Weiss grimaced. "I'll sleep in the hanging death trap you call a bed," not staying to hear any arguments, Weiss swept into the bathroom to change into her nightgown before quickly climbing into Ruby's bed. "Goodnight, Ruby."

Ruby glanced over at Yang and Blake, who were already in their own beds, and eventually climbed into the heiress' bed. Surrounded by the sweet, crisp scent of her partner, Ruby felt a dumb grin crawl onto her face. "Night, Weiss."

* * *

It was the middle of the night, and Weiss wasn't sure if her fear of the bed collapsing woke her, or if it had been the creaking of one of the ropes. It was quite possibly both. Trying to find a comfortable position without moving too much, Weiss froze when she heard a soft sound. She waited a few seconds for another. Just as she was thinking it was her imagination, she heard it again. The impossibly quiet sniffle and whimper of someone trying to not make any noise. Sliding softly to the floor, Weiss crouched next to her bed.

"Ruby...?" Not even a whisper, but Weiss' voice was just loud enough to get her partner's attention. Slowly pulling the blanket down, watery silver eyes met concerned blue ones.

"Oh, h-hey Weiss. Did I wake you? Sorry," shaking her head, Weiss leaned forward, grabbing one of Ruby's hands in her own.

"Don't worry about that, what's wrong?" Ruby gave a shaky smile, and looked away.

"My leg hurts. I know it's been hurting all day, but it's different at night. During the day, I have people who can help distract me," glancing at Weiss, a small blush crossed her face. "I have you, and I can ignore the pain. But at night, it's just me and my thoughts. And all I can think about is how I may never be a huntress, just because I'm not whole like everyone else," tears fell onto their connected hands, and the dark-haired girl quickly wiped her eyes. "Sorry, you deserve someone better than me to be your team leader, someone who's not broken." Pale arms wrapped around her, crushing her into a tight hug. Pulling back slowly, Weiss looked her right in the eyes.

"I don't want anyone else. I want you, Ruby," blushing, Weiss smiled shyly and Ruby automatically smiled back. The smile fell from the heiress' face quickly, replaced with sadness and a touch of fear. "And don't you dare say that you can't be a huntress just because you're broken. You're not the only broken one here," Ruby tilted her head in confusion, and Weiss sighed. Lifting her hand, she rested it on her left eye's scar. "This is a secret, okay? Promise you won't tell anyone, not even Yang," the whisper was pleading, not at all like the white-tinted girl's normal tone.

"I promise," Ruby breathed the words, sucking in a gasp as Weiss plunged her fingers into her eye. A squeeze from her other hand told Ruby she was okay, and soon Ruby was staring wordlessly at the orb in her partner's outstretched palm. Looking up, she was met with one sad ice-blue eye and one hole, black as night.

"It happened when I was very young. My father expected perfection, even when I was still learning. He was teaching me to fence, and wasn't happy that I was taking a few days to learn some blocks. When I messed up the third time in a row, instead of pulling back he stepped forward and he, he..." Stinging tears filled her eye, and Ruby reached out, wiping them away and leaving her warm hand on her partner's cheek. "He finished the strike. The doctors did what they could, but I lost the eye and was left with this scar. Since the Schnee family is supposed to be perfect, I've had to keep the truth hidden for so many years. Outside of my household, you're the only one who knows," Ruby gently ran her thumb over Weiss' cheek.

"Weiss, I'm so sorry."

White hair flowed as she shook her head. "I didn't tell you for you to feel sorry for me. I told you so you'd know that you're not alone," fitting the prosthetic back in place, Weiss smiled. "So don't think that you're going through this by yourself. I'll always be here for you," wiping away the last of her tears, Ruby smiled and nodded. "Okay, then let's go back to bed. We do have class tomorrow," standing up to climb back into bed, her partner's soft voice made Weiss pause.

"Weiss, can we sleep together?" Looking down at puppy eyes, the heiress nodded involuntarily. Ruby scooted over and held the blanket up, and Weiss climbed into her partner's warm embrace. "Night, Weiss," shivering at the warm breath on her neck, Weiss smiled at the content look on Ruby's face.

"Goodnight, you dolt."

* * *

A/N: So Clare's a faunus *gasp*. Congrats to the people who guessed she was one. Now it's time for the fun game of "guess what type she is"!


	14. Chapter 14

Click.

"Are you almost done?"

Click.

"Ssshh! Almost."

Click.

"You know Weiss is going to kill you when she finds out."

Click.

"It'll be fine. Anyways, they are way too adorable right now, how could I possibly let this happen without getting a few pictures?"

Click.

Weiss' eye snapped open, and she glared up at a grinning Yang. Lunging for the scroll in the blonde's hand, she missed as Yang danced out of reach. Trying to sit up, a weight around her stomach kept her in place. The heiress glanced down to see an arm wrapped comfortably around her. Looking at the limb's owner, she was greeted with a happy smile, silver eyes slowly blinking the sleep away. Yawning, Ruby snuggled closer.

"Morning, Weiss," the words were muffled in Weiss' neck, and the heiress wasn't sure if she should be thanking someone for putting her in this position, or killing them. The cooing coming from across the room brought her back to the present, and she reluctantly pulled away from her partner.

"Good morning, Ruby. Do you feel any better today?" Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ruby stretched her legs out and wrinkled her nose at the stiffness.

"Nope, it feels worse, if that's even possible," Ruby looked up at her partner, eyes shining. "I'm going to need help walking again," a slight blush swept across Weiss' face, but fled quickly.

"Then as your best teammate, I'll be there to support you," Yang rolled her eyes.

"If you're done coming up with excuses to hold hands, you should get ready. We've got classes today," Weiss glared at the blonde.

"I'm not making excuses! And since when are you so excited for class?"

Shrugging, Yang stood and moved to stand next to Blake by the door. "A bit of normality would be nice after the past few hectic weeks," Yang smirked. "Don't get used to it though, I'll probably be tired of it by tomorrow."

* * *

"I hate classes."

Patting the blonde head laying on the table, Blake glanced at the clock. "You made it through the morning at least, only a few more hours to do," a long groan escaped the golden locks, and Blake smiled. "Cheer up. We have combat practice next, so maybe you'll get to hit something." A weak thumbs up was the only response. Practically dragging her partner out of the classroom and down the hall, the faunus' eyes fell onto familiar red and white backs. Their pace was incredibly slow, but she guessed from the intertwined fingers and bumping shoulders that they didn't really care. Sighing, she turned her attention to her own partner, eventually bribing her with promises of touching cat ears if Yang walked normally and stopped complaining.

Combat class was being held in the amphitheater today, and the first thing Blake noticed was the jacket-wearing huntress sitting in the center of the dueling arena. Amber eyes narrowed as she took in the scene before her: a pile of inflated balloons, an annoyed looking Goodwitch, and a small smirk resting on Clare's face. Yang slouched next to her, disappointed at the lack of training dummies.

"So we're not going to be hitting things? Boring..." Blake elbowed her partner, but it seemed that she'd been heard. As the students walked closer, Clare jumped up and grinned.

"We're not working on your strength. We're going to be working on your aura control," reaching into the pile next to her, she spun a balloon in her hands. "Everyone grab a balloon, and pop it. Without using your weapon," she added quickly, making Nora slowly lower her hammer. A 'bang' drew the older huntress' attention to Yang, who stood with scraps of plastic between her hands. "And without just using your hands to pop it." Shrugging, Yang grabbed another balloon.

"You said pop it, and I popped it."

Rubbing her temples, Clare sighed. "I also said we'd be working on aura control. Which means that I wanted you to use your aura to pop the balloon, not your body," holding her balloon up, the huntress waited until all eyes were on her. Gently tossing it into the air, she let it float down to eye level before it popped. "See, all I did was use my aura to pop it. It's simple, just focus on the balloon and think 'BANG'!" A loud laugh rang out, and sunglass-covered eyes fell on a smirking Cardin.

"You want us to pop a balloon? What do you think we are, children?"

Shrugging, Clare gestured to his balloon. "Yeah, you're all kids who won't last a day out there alone. Try to prove me wrong. Pop it." Glaring down at the balloon, Cardin focused on it, but let it go after a few moments of nothing happening.

"This is stupid. I don't have a reason to waste my aura on something like this," turning his back on the huntress, he missed her grin.

Watching the exchange silently, Weiss stiffened as she felt a familiar aura gathering. Shifting her stance, she wrapped a protective arm around her confused partner a second before the aura hit them, a solid wall of power that shoved them back a few inches. Glancing around the room she saw Yang and Blake were still standing, surprise on both their faces, but not everyone had been so lucky. Jaune was being helped back to his feet by Pyrrha, and Cardin was laying on his back after being pushed end over end.

"If you can't do a simple exercise like this, then you're already wasting your aura. Being able to use an aura burst when surrounded could be the difference between winning or dying," waving a hand around the room, Clare continued. "You'll never be able to match that burst, but you should be able to learn how to do a small one. I'm trying to teach you the first step. Now pop the damn balloons." Scurrying to follow the annoyed woman's order, the room soon filled with the noise of practicing students. The only sound missing was the popping of balloons. Staring idly at her balloon, Weiss glanced up at her partner's voice.

"Hey Weiss, how'd you know she was going to do that?" Ruby's steely silver eyes killed any lie that came to Weiss' mind. "She didn't give any signs of movement, but you still knew to protect me. How?" Sighing, Weiss leaned closer to her partner, dropping her voice to a whisper.

"I sensed her gathering her aura, so I figured she'd do something like that," silver eyes silently pushed for more details, and the heiress relented. "I was wrong when I said that only you know about my eye here at Beacon. Clare realized it during our fight, which is why she took my prosthetic." Ruby glared at the tall huntress' back.

"She said she hadn't really touched your eye."

"She lied. When I was in the infirmary she visited and made me agree to some special training with her, so that my blind spot wouldn't cause our team trouble. I knew to protect you because I've felt her use an aura burst before." Ruby nodded slowly as things started making sense. She squeezed Weiss' hand softly.

"So you met with her at night just for training?" Relief washed over Ruby when Weiss nodded. "Oh good, I'm so happy to hear that. I was worried that maybe Clare was, you know, your type," blushing and ducking her head, Ruby barely squeaked out the last word. Shaking her head violently, Weiss stepped closer.

"Not a chance! I can't believe you'd even think something so foolish, you dolt," lifting her partner's chin, Weiss looked her in the eye. "My type is-"

"Hey Ruby, have you figured out how to do this?" Yang's loud call broke the moment, and they quickly moved apart as Yang and Blake joined them. Looking at her own balloon, Ruby shrugged. "Ah man, I just don't get it. How are we supposed to pop it?" Weiss looked incredulously at the blonde.

"You're joking right? Yang, I've seen you use aura bursts in battle," Yang blinked and tilted her head in confusion. "Remember when you were jumped by a bunch of beowolves and one of them touched your hair? You blew them away easily." Recognizing what the heiress was talking about, Yang grinned and pointed at her.

"Oh, you're talking about my bosom booms."

Weiss stared at the grinning blonde. "Your what?"

"My bosom booms. See, when I get pissed my semblance blows up and it makes my chest and everything around me bounce. So aura bursts are just that? No problem. Mmkay, just give me a sec," focusing on her balloon, the brawler turned away from her team. Blake watched her for a moment before turning to her white-haired teammate.

"You seem to know about this, so do you have any actual advice?" Nodding, Weiss held up her own balloon.

"Of course. Clare's explanation was simplified, but rather accurate. You have to focus your aura into a tight ball and then release it all at once," taking a deep breath as she gathered her aura, she smirked as the balloon exploded. Letting the plastic scraps fall to the floor, Weiss looked at her impressed teammates. "Since balloons are physical objects that break easily, they're perfect for us to practice with while getting used to the feeling of the technique." Turning their attention to their balloons, it was only a few minutes before Blake's popped, followed shortly by Ruby's. Weiss' pride swelled as she looked around the room, realizing that her team would be the first finished. Eye falling on a struggling blonde, the feeling fizzled.

"Nnngh!" Shaking the balloon over her head, Yang glared at it. "Why won't you break?!" Blake grinned in amusement.

"I thought you said this would be no problem."

"It shouldn't be a problem! But I only use a bosom boom when I'm angry in the middle of a fight, and I can't figure out how to make it work right now," seeing her shoulders slumping in defeat, Blake felt pity for her partner. Stepping closer the faunus whispered something in Yang's ear, and with a sharp 'bang' the balloon burst as purple eyes flashed red. Ruby applauded her sister's success.

"Wow, what did you say to her?"

Smiling slightly, Blake glanced at her partner. "I told her to imagine the balloon was going to statically cling to her hair and mess it up." Attention returned to her team, Yang grinned at a giggling Ruby.

"Awesome, we did it. Now what?" An unfilled balloon hit the ground in front of her with a soft 'thwap'.

"Now you fill up another one and do it again. Congrats on doing it, but once isn't enough," holding out her arm, Clare dropped a fistful of balloons into Yang's hand. "Pop all these and then I'll consider you done." Muttering under her breath, Yang started passing them out to the rest of her team, but the older huntress' voice stopped her. "Oh, those are just for you and your partner. Little Red, you should concentrate on your walking right now. How about you and Snowflake take a walk around the grounds?" Ruby eyed her cautiously.

"Shouldn't Weiss and I practice this some more?"

Clare pointed at the young girl's leg. "I really don't care if you can do an aura burst at the moment. All you need to focus on is being able to use your CRSL without issue. And I'm not worried about Snowflake's ability to pick this up, she can do it no problem. Now go walk, and I'll get back to trying to teach the rest of these kids." Turning her back on team RWBY, she started yelling across the room. "Hey Birdbrain, still think this is too good for you? An injured pipsqueak figured it out faster than your sorry lot! Amazon, make sure your partner doesn't hurt himself there, it looks like he's going to pop a blood vessel. And dammit, put the hammer down!" Sharing a quick look team RWBY separated, Yang and Blake blowing up balloons while Weiss and Ruby headed out into the sunshine.

* * *

Ruby took a deep breath as they stepped outside. The campus was quiet since it was still class time and there was no one else in sight. Holding her partner's hand as they slowly walked along the path, Ruby smiled at the calmness of it all.

"I didn't get to finish earlier," Weiss' voice jolted Ruby out of her thoughts. Looking straight ahead, the heiress squeezed her partner's hand tightly. "Yang interrupted us before I could tell you my type." Eyes widening, Ruby shook her head quickly.

"It's fine, you don't have to say any-"

"But I want to. Ruby, I think you are my type." Ruby stared at the blushing girl for a moment as her words sunk in.

"Oh… Oh! Me too!" Weiss quirked an eyebrow at her and the cloaked girl flushed. "I mean, not me too, like I'm my type too, but like you're my type too!" Giggling at the rushed explanation, Weiss entwined her fingers with Ruby's. A silence fell over the pair as they continued their walk. It was a few minutes before the cloaked girl broke the quiet. "So, we both like each other," Weiss nodded and Ruby looked up with hopeful eyes. "What happens now?"

"Nothing. It would be improper for partners to pursue a romantic relationship," watching her partner's crestfallen expression, Weiss frowned. "At least, that's what I would have said before all of this," the heiress' features softened as she waved a hand at the academy. "Now, even though I know it could be a big mistake, I don't want to be just partners or friends. I can't go back to a life without you." She laughed slightly at the admission. "I can't believe I just said that. You've really wormed your way into me, Ruby Rose."

Ruby leaned against Weiss. "I'm the same way. I just want to be with you, always." Grinning cheekily, she stopped and spun the heiress to face her. "You scared me there for a second, I kinda thought you were going to put a stop to anything before it started. How are you going to make it up to me, Weiss Schnee?" Taking one step closer, Weiss bumped her forehead against Ruby's.

"I'm sure I'll think of something," opening her mouth, the white-haired girl was cut off by the beeping of a scroll. Digging it out of her pocket, Ruby looked at the flashing screen and sighed.

"It's Yang. She says that we need to get back since class is almost over," smiling ruefully, Ruby turned and started retracing her steps with Weiss.

"Your sister has the worst timing." Nodding in agreement, Ruby snuck a glance at her partner. Weiss was trying to act like normal, but her small smile and red cheeks matched the expression Ruby knew she was wearing herself. Realizing there was still one thing that had to be said, Ruby smiled brighter.

"Hey Weiss, I like you," Weiss rolled her eyes at the grinning girl, but gave her hand a soft squeeze.

"I like you too, you dolt."

* * *

A/N: Yang, why do you keep interrupting? I guess her older sister senses keep going off.


	15. Chapter 15

The amphitheater was abuzz with nervous murmurs as Ruby and Weiss entered. Making their way to the rest of their team, they searched for the source of the nervousness, seeing nothing unusual. Yang grinned as she took in the light blushes on their faces but quickly turned her focus back to the center of the room. Ruby leaned closer to her sister, worried about the room's mood.

"Yang, what's going on?"

Nodding towards the middle of the room, the blonde glanced at Ruby. "Seems like just about everyone but Cardin's team managed to do the exercise. Clare said they'd have to stay here until they did it, and well," following Yang's hand, Ruby looked at Cardin's aggressive stance in front of the tall huntress. "Let's just say he's been very vocal about his thoughts on her, and they're not very pleasant." Weiss frowned, eyebrows knitting together.

"He's insulting her teaching style? This won't end well."

"He's doing more than that. Calling her Goodwitch's trained bitch was probably one of the tamer things said," Blake's ears were pinned to her head as she spoke, pulling her bow low. "She's just been standing there, taking it, and he's getting more and more worked up." Weiss stared wide-eyed at her teammate, until another commotion made her turn back to the center of the action. Bringing a hand slowly to her face, Clare wiped away the glob of spit, never turning away from the angry boy. The movement upset Cardin even more, and he drew a fist back.

"That's enough. Mr. Winchester, stop speaking and step back. Clare, stop toying with his emotions," stepping between them, Goodwitch held her crop loosely in her hand. Shrugging, the short-haired huntress tilted her head, breaking the eye contact with Cardin. Slumping as if all the anger fled his body, Cardin blinked a few times and stumbled back a few feet to join his team. A whispered argument passed between the two huntresses as Cardin pulled himself together. Coming to an agreement, Goodwitch faced the boy. "Apologize for your comments, and Clare is willing to overlook this outburst."

Cardin narrowed his eyes. "No way. Why should I? She just some lame huntress who probably can't even fight," egged on by his teammates, Cardin smirked. "All I've seen is her beat a group of girls, which can't have been very hard." Yang's aura flared at the insult, and it took both Blake and Ruby to hold her back.

Goodwitch glanced over her shoulder at the taller huntress. "Clare, are you…?" Holding her hands up at the unfinished question, Clare shook her head. Accepting her answer, Goodwitch faced team CRDL. "Mr. Winchester, it would be in your best interests to stop speaking about things you no nothing about." Cardin responded with a shrug.

"I'm just concerned I'm not getting the top-notch training that Beacon promises. She hasn't proven to be a capable huntress, so-"

"So if I prove I'm capable, you'll listen to me?" Cutting him off, Clare crossed her arms and grinned. "Fine, I was getting bored just hanging out here. Glyn, where's the nearest nest of Grimm? The bigger the better." Goodwitch stared at her.

"You can't possibly mean to-" she cut herself off as she took in the other woman's expression. "Of course you do, it's you after all. There's one on the far edge of the forest that was going to be used as a test for some older teams. If you have to do this, then it would be closest."

"Excellent. Thanks, Glyn," spinning on her heels, Clare walked towards the exit. "Come on, kids, it's time for a field trip!" The students stood still, shocked by the whole exchange, until Goodwitch followed the other huntress' lead. Seeing their professor move, most of the students followed.

* * *

Ruby looked over the edge of the cliff. They had walked to Beacon Cliffs in almost complete silence, but once Clare reached the edge of the forest she had paused to speak with Goodwitch. Ruby looked away from the older women when she felt a squeeze on her hand.

"How are you feeling? This has been the most you've walked so far."

Looking into concerned blue eyes, the short-haired girl smiled. "I'm fine. A little tired, but I have got to see her fight. We didn't really see her in action when we fought," a frown formed as she glanced at the tall huntress. "I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up if we have to travel too far, though." An arm slipped around her shoulders, drawing her attention to a grinning blonde.

"No worries, I'll carry you!" Yang flexed her free arm. "Unlike Weiss, I'm totally strong enough to do it," Weiss let out an insulted 'hey!', but didn't try to argue. Seeing Clare and Goodwitch leap off the cliff, Yang grinned. "Looks like it's time to go. Upsy-daisy," scooping her sister into her arms, the blonde ran and jumped. Yang whooped as they flew through the air, but Ruby looked at the approaching ground with apprehension.

"Yang, how are you going to land?"

"Like I always do, use a couple blasts from Ember Celica to slow my… Oh," Yang glanced down at her occupied arms. "Oops." Groaning, Ruby tightened her grip on her sister and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. Yang landed, but instead of the expected crash Ruby felt them keep moving. Opening her eyes a crack, she looked over Yang's shoulder to see a dissipating glyph behind them.

"You are such an idiot," Weiss looked at the sisters from a nearby glyph. Landing next to her, Blake nodded before jumping to another glyph in front of them. "Try to think before you act."

Yang grinned at the heiress as she followed the trail of glyphs. "Nah, I've got you and Blake to do the thinking for me." Weiss rolled her eyes, electing to not respond to the blonde.

Making good time thanks to Weiss, team RWBY was the first group to reach the Grimm nest. Landing on a giant tree's branch, Yang carefully set Ruby down and looked at a lower branch that held the two older huntresses. Clare laughed and said something to Goodwitch before dropping to the ground, ambling up to a large burrow's dark entrance.

Nora whistled as she landed next to Yang. "Wow, that's a big hole. Wonder what's in it?" The rest of her team joined them quickly, and Jaune looked at the nest nervously.

"Whatever it is, it must be huge if it needs an opening that big. Is she really going to be okay alone?" He pointed at Clare as she did some simple stretches. "I mean, she doesn't even have her weapon ready." As the conversation continued Weiss tuned it out, instead closing her eyes and trying to sense how many Grimm were in the nest. She let out a soft gasp as she sensed a solid mass of nothing, and Ruby turned to her.

"Is something wrong, Weiss?" Opening her eyes at Ruby's quiet question, she nodded slightly.

"There are a lot of Grimm in there, and some of them are giant," watching the grinning huntress on the ground, Weiss frowned. "I'm not sure we're going to like how this turns out." Listening in on the soft exchange, Blake glanced at her white-haired teammate and frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that if she loses it will pretty much mean her death. I doubt any of us would be quick enough to get down there and help. And if she wins…" Weiss' voice trailed off as she thought back to the few fights she'd seen during their training. Ruby nudged her gently.

"If she wins?"

Weiss focused on Clare as a dull roar came from the nest and a few beowolves crawled out. "Then we'll be reminded why she's not allowed anywhere without Professor Goodwitch."

The battle didn't begin with a bang, but a crunch. A beowolf threw itself at the huntress and she simply slammed her hands together, crushing its skull. Stepping back to dodge a different Grimm, she started a destructive dance. She threw well-timed punches and kicks at the beowolves all while staying just out of their reach. Each attack dropped a Grimm, but every time it seemed two more took its place. Ursa had joined the fray and a few small nevermore flew from the nest, circling above Clare. Dropping into a crouch, she waited until she was completely surrounded before releasing an aura blast. Black limbs flew as the aura tore through the Grimm, blasting the closest ones to pieces and stabbing into the others. The air filled with pained whines and whimpers as the injured Grimm were systematically killed.

Yang winced, looking away as the fighting huntress smashed a beowolf's head beneath her boot. "How the hell is she fighting like that? Even with my semblance, it would be impossible to hit like that without a weapon." A voice drew their attention to a lower tree limb.

"She is the weapon." Goodwitch didn't look away from the fight as she spoke. "Instead of a normal weapon, Clare uses her own aura to attack. It's difficult to tell, especially when she keeps her aura transparent, but it's wrapped around her body like armor." She watched silently as the fighting huntress sliced a death stalker's claw off and flung it at a hovering nevermore before continuing. "You won't find any huntsman with better aura control." Looking up for a moment, the blonde professor's eyes fell on the pale leader of team CRDL. "That's why Ozpin brought her in to teach you."

Cardin stood slack-jaw as Clare leapt forward and stuck her arm in an ursa's open mouth, releasing a concentrated aura burst down its throat that blew it to pieces. Shaking her arm, the huntress frowned at her ruined gloves and a rip in her jacket.

"Glyn, catch!" Slipping them off easily, she tossed the leather jacket straight into the professor's waiting hands and the gloves onto the dirt. Cracking her neck and quickly adjusting her tank top, Clare grinned at the large Grimm around her. Leaping over an ursa major's strike, she managed to slam a fist into a death stalker's head before whipping her metal arm up to block raking talons from above. With the weaklings taken care of, the huntress' stance shifted as stronger monsters took their place. While no one could say that the fight was evenly matched, it was no longer just a slaughter. Separating an ursa's head from its shoulders with a crescent kick, Clare launched herself at the next Grimm, barely flinching when a different ursa major cut into her left arm with its claws. Spinning to face it, she broke its jaw with a solid uppercut, and the sound of shattering glass filled the air for a second. Glancing at the white dust spilling from one of her arm's dust vials, she smiled as her aura swept it up, turning her aura slightly opaque.

Ruby clenched her jaw, watching the huntress' now visible aura as she fought. Coiling around her like snakes her aura flared whenever she struck, adding the necessary reach to punches and kicks that would otherwise have just bumped against the Grimm instead of killing them. When a Grimm did manage to hit the huntress her aura focused on that one point, blocking the attack. "So multiple attacks right after drawing her attention with one big attack would be best…" Weiss looked at her muttering partner, but Ruby was too busy analyzing the fight to notice. Slipping her hand into the younger girl's, Weiss winced as Clare blocked a nevermore's claws only to be sent flying back by a death stalker's strike. Rolling as she hit the ground, the huntress kept moving to dodge a beowolf's bite. Crouched in the ground, she suddenly looked small compared to all the Grimm surrounding her. Weiss glanced around as the gathered students started speaking quietly to each other. A metallic clank drew the heiress' eye to Yang.

"Should we get down there?" Gauntlets activated, the blonde brawler looked at her teammates. Blake shifted, hand on her weapon, but looked unsure as the older huntress threw herself at the nearest Grimm again.

Ruby pulled her attention away from the fight to look at her sister, pausing a second to think before shaking her head. Her eyes fell back onto the huntress as she rolled out of a charging ursa's way, broken sunglasses falling to the side. "This is to show us that she can fight. If she really needed help she would say some-" the rest of what she was saying died on her lips as a sound filled the air.

Laughter. Pure, genuine laughter rang out over the growls of the Grimm. Red eyes shown brightly as she smiled widely, laughing as the glass vials in her arm broke. The Grimm paused as the dust swirled around the huntress, settling into her aura. " _This_ is what I've been missing," stretching, Clare let her dust-filled aura form spiked armor that floated right above her skin. "Come now, Grimm, keep me entertained!" Letting a white faceplate settle over her cheeks, she howled, the monstrous sound sending shivers down Ruby's spine. A tightening grip on her hand told her that she wasn't the only one unnerved by Clare's appearance.

Their branch bounced slightly as Blake dropped to her knees, staring down in horror. "T-that's impossible." Bow flicking in agitation, the young faunus focused on the huntress' red eyes. "They're supposed to all be dead…" Yang crouched next to her partner and tugged on her arm softly.

"What do you mean, Blake?" Wide amber eyes slowly met concerned lilac ones. Suddenly Blake's tongue felt too big for her mouth, and she tripped over her words.

"S-she's, she's a-"

"She's a faunus," Weiss finished for her stumbling teammate. Nodding, the black-haired girl took a moment to collect herself before speaking again.

"It's not just that. She's a faunus that shouldn't _exist_ anymore. They were supposed to have been all wiped out during the war." A chill went through her as Clare spun to kill a death stalker, both fighter's eyes the same shining red. A gentle squeeze on her arm from Yang urged her to continue. Blake looked up at her friends. "Clare's a Grimm faunus."

Yang furrowed her brow in confusion. "That's a thing? I thought faunus could only have animal traits."

"They're supposed to! Grimm faunus were extremely rare, and only a few bloodlines were known for having them," Blake's hands tightened into fists. "But during the Faunus War all those bloodlines were killed. Humans used the Grimm faunus as examples of why all faunus were monsters." Laughter drew their eyes back to the fight, and they watched as the huntress' aura shifted into claws to rip a wing off a nevermore. Blake stared down at her fellow faunus. "She shouldn't exist, it doesn't make sense."

"She never makes sense." Goodwitch's voice was soft, just barely loud enough to be heard over the battle. "She's never been one to hold to conventional thinking," watching Clare take a hit from a ursa major, she frowned and put the folded jacket she'd been holding on the branch next to her feet. "No matter what life threw at her she always gets up and puts on that goddamn grin. She just doesn't know how to give up, or how to just ask for help."

The changing tone of her voice made Weiss look away from the fight to take in her professor. She was bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, riding crop in hand and eyes never leaving the faunus huntress. "Professor, are you-" before the heiress could finish Goodwitch took a step forward, dropping out of the tree. The energy in the fight changed instantly and Clare threw a few of her dust-formed spikes into the air without looking away from her opponents.

"Glyn!"

Waving her crop, the blonde professor took control of the spikes before landing. Pointing at the Grimm nearest Clare, she sent the spines shooting into them in a burst of purple. Moving her weapon like a conductor's baton, Glynda weaved the projectiles around the other fighting huntress, covering her back while she tore through the Grimm in front of her. They quickly fell into a pattern that could only have arisen from ages of practice: Glynda wielded spines supplied by Clare to keep the faunus covered, and any time a Grimm approached the professor Clare launched herself to their position, either taking out the enemy or carrying Glynda to safety while she sent a purple blast at it. Their rhythm wittled the number of Grimm down until only one oversized ursa major stood. Catching each other's eyes, the two huntresses shared a smile before striking the last monster down.

Yang let out a low whistle as she watched them stand in the center of slain Grimm. "Holy shit, remind me to never piss Goodwitch off ever again." Ruby nodded slowly, focusing on the faunus as she stretched, releasing the aura armor she'd formed. Laughing happily, Clare ran up to Glynda, sweeping her up into a spinning hug. "Aww, that's how we should celebrate winning fights from now on, Bla-" Yang snapped her jaw shut, cutting herself off as the huntress captured Glynda's lips with her own.

Managing to look away from the scene, Blake smirked at her partner. "You were saying?" Goodwitch caught herself and ended the kiss quickly, moving out of the taller woman's arms and scolding her, cheeks tinted red. The happy smile on Clare's face told everyone that this wasn't the first time she'd heard this rant.

"I could think of worse ways of celebrating," Yang winked as she spoke, and laughed when Blake elbowed her gently. They quieted down when Goodwitch stormed away from the grinning red-eyed faunus and took off for Beacon. Running a hand through her hair, the faunus watched her disappear into the forest before glancing up at the gathered students.

"Well, I believe that was enough of a show to prove I'm capable," leaping into the tree, Clare picked you her jacket and slid it on. She pulled a new pair of gloves out of one of her pockets but changed her mind and put them away, leaving her mismatched hands visible. Glowing eyes settled onto Cardin. "Team CRDL, I expect you to go and burst some balloons once you get back on campus. The rest of you are done with class, so go enjoy the rest of your afternoon." The relaxed dismissal took a second to register, but soon the teens started headed back to civilization. Ruby stood still, watching the huntress until a hand landed on her cloaked shoulder.

"C'mon Ruby, let's get out of here," picking her sister up again, Yang joined the rest of team RWBY and headed for home. The journey was mostly silent, each girl still trying to wrap their minds around the fierce display of a full huntress. Yang finally broke the silence when they reached Beacon Cliffs. "That was fun. Let's never fight her again, okay? I can't believe it, but she really went easy on us." The blonde's stomach let out a rumble, and she grinned. "I'm starving, let's go grab some food, Blake. We'll see you two later!" Grabbing onto her partner's arm, Yang just about dragged her towards the school, throwing a wave over her shoulder.

Ruby and Weiss stared after their teammates before looking at each other. Sidling up to the heiress, Ruby leaned against her and smiled hopefully. "So, what are the chances that we can start celebrating like Clare and Professor Goodwitch?" Giving the cloak-wearing girl a playful swat, Weiss slipped her hand into Ruby's.

"If you want to, then you will need to get back to a hundred percent quickly," glancing sideways, Weiss smiled. "After all, they only celebrated after winning a fight."

Nodding seriously, Ruby started walking, pulling Weiss along with her. "Then I'll heal as quickly as possible." Giggling at her partner's focused expression, Weiss couldn't help but lean closer and give her a peck on the cheek. Ruby froze, turning pink as she looked up from the ground. "What was that?" Smiling, Weiss kept walking, forcing Ruby to move.

"Think of it as an early reward," looking around at the mostly empty grounds, the heiress angled them away from the buildings. "It's nice right now, let's take a walk before we go eat." Humming in agreement, Ruby let her partner take the lead as they enjoyed each other's company.

* * *

A/N: I got messages excited for whiterose fluff, and I deliver a chapter focused on fighting. Oops. Fluff is coming, I promise!


	16. Chapter 16

Weiss woke up slowly, stirring as a small beam of light fell across her face. Opening her right eye, she gradually focused on the clock to see she still had an hour before the alarm would go off. Shifting to find a more comfortable position, she felt her bedmate shuffle slightly and scoot closer. Weiss smiled as she glanced down at her sleeping partner.

The past few days had been some of the best days the heiress could remember. While the rest of the school was gossiping about the battle in the forest, Ruby and Weiss had spent just about every waking hour together. Ruby was taking her promise of a kiss seriously, making them spend their free time walking around to get her used to the metal limb. Weiss giggled softly. She'd been joking of course, but if it motivated Ruby to get better then Weiss might as well go along with it. Gently, Weiss brushed the two-tone bangs off of the sleeping girl's forehead. Ruby had insisted that they sleep together, saying that it made it easier for her to sleep, and Weiss was happy to agree to it. With Ruby asleep in her arms the heiress had been pleased to find that her normal nightmares had vanished. If Yang or Blake thought something was off with their two teammates, they hadn't mentioned anything yet. Weiss let out a sigh. Well, Yang had made a few married couple jokes, but other than that there hadn't been any questions about the change in their relationship. Ruby had taken a bit of convincing to finally agree to keeping it a secret, but Weiss knew that it'd be better to keep quiet, at least until they had gotten used to their new relationship.

Leaning down, Weiss brushed her lips lightly across her partner's forehead. "Thank you, Ruby, for everything." A small smile appeared on the sleeping girl's face, and she snuggled closer. Turning her head to look out the window, Weiss froze when she met staring amber eyes. An uneasy silence filled the room as they watched each other. A rumbling snore from Yang broke the quiet and Blake slowly shut the book she'd been peering over.

"Looks like Yang owes me twenty Lien," keeping her voice low, the faunus looked like a cat that had caught a mouse.

"You have a bet about us?!" Hissing quietly at her smirking teammate, Weiss mussed Ruby's hair gently, as if to hide any evidence of the kiss.

Blake nodded. "Mhmm. I'd agreed to the bet just to get her to stop bothering me about it, but it seems that it's worked in my favor. In case you were curious, most people thought it would take you two at least two more weeks." Weiss paled.

"'Most people'? Who else was part of this?"

"Team JNPR mostly, but Yang dragged Velvet and her team into it as well. Oh, and Sun and Neptune joined in yesterday."

Groaning, Weiss hid her face in her hands. "I'm going to kill Yang."

"Relax, it's all in good fun," slipping out of her bed, the black-haired faunus moved towards the door. "Let's talk outside so we don't wake these two." Nodding in agreement, Weiss slowly pulled out of Ruby's grasp and followed Blake into the hallway. Walking a few paces down the hall, Blake stopped and leaned against the wall to look at her teammate. "So, how long have the two of you been together?"

Weiss flushed and looked at the ground. "Is there any way we can not have this conversation?" Blake shrugged.

"You either get to talk to me, or I go wake up Yang and you can explain everything to her," she smirked at Weiss' suddenly pale face. "If you want to keep quiet about your relationship, that's fine, but you'll have to answer my questions first."

Glancing around for an escape, the heiress eventually sighed and looked Blake in the eye. "Since the day we watched Clare fight. When we went for a walk during class we started talking, and it turned into confessions."

"So only three days, huh?" Blake raised an eyebrow. "I thought it would've been longer. The two of you have been a lot closer recently, especially after Ruby got hurt. I mean, the two of you have been walking around hand-in-hand everywhere you go," Weiss stiffened at the comment.

"That was just because she needed some support! It can't be easy getting used to a new leg." Seeing Blake's amused expression, Weiss stopped giving excuses. "... Have we really been that obvious?"

Tilting her head, Blake thought for a moment before answering. "It's not like you've been good at hiding that the two of you have gotten closer, but you're partners. I doubt most people see the two of you holding hands around campus and automatically think 'oh, they must be a couple'."

"Thank goodness for that," Weiss sighed in relief. "I really don't want to deal with other people knowing."

"Why not?" Frowning, the faunus watched Weiss. "Don't want other people to know that you're in love?" Blake's eyes narrowed as another option popped into her head. "Or is it because you don't actually love Ru-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Pulling herself as tall as she could, Weiss glared daggers at the taller girl. "You don't get to say how I feel, not you, not anyone."

Blake held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, I take it back. It's just, Ruby's a good kid and I don't want her to get hurt. It's one of Yang's big fears too you know," Weiss relaxed slightly and nodded.

"I figured as much. I just can't stand when someone tries to tell me what I'm feeling isn't real," Weiss paused for a moment as childhood memories sprung to mind, but she quickly shook her head to rid herself of them. "It's all so new, but it feels like we've been this way forever. I, I don't know how to explain it. I know I'm asking a lot, but can you please keep this a secret, at least until Ruby and I figure everything out?" Blake watched the heiress fidget before nodding.

"I'll keep quiet, but you better tell Yang as soon as you can. And if she finds out by herself, I have no knowledge of this." Blake smirked at Weiss' confused look. "If Yang finds out before you two tell her, I so do not want to be counted as an accessory and get caught in the crossfire." Considering that possible outcome, Weiss swallowed nervously, but pulled herself together and smiled at Blake.

"Thank you, Blake. Now if you'll excuse me, I might as well go get ready before Ruby and Yang wake up." The heiress turned and made it a step before a hand caught her arm gently.

"Just one more thing. I'm sure this is all new and exciting, but don't take it too fast. No matter how private you think somewhere is, this is still a school full of people," Blake's ears twitched under her bow. "People whose hearing can be much better than you think, and who may investigate any, um, unusual noises they hear. So try to be careful."

Blushing furiously, Weiss shook off the faunus' hand. "If you're insinuating that Ruby and I would… No, it's way too early for anything like that!" Rushing to their room's door, she paused. "Thanks for the warning, though. I'll be careful."

Watching her white-haired teammate leave the hall, Blake let out a soft laugh. She was definitely going to be keeping an eye on those two. "Yang is going to be so annoyed that I know something she doesn't. This'll be fun," humming quietly, she headed back into their room to prepare for the school day.

* * *

Ruby looked out the window and sighed. Heavy grey clouds hung overhead, dumping rain onto the scurrying students who'd been unlucky enough to be outside. Taking her cloak in her hands, she wrung it out as best she could. "I guess we were lucky we hadn't gotten too far from the building."

Sweeping droplets off her arms, Weiss glared at the rain. "It wasn't supposed to rain today. There go our plans."

"Don't worry, I'm sure our lunch will taste good even inside," lifting the small picnic basket, Ruby smiled and gave her partner's hand a squeeze.

"Where should we eat then? And don't say the cafeteria, I don't want to deal with Yang after we already told her we wouldn't be eating with her and Blake," Weiss spoke quickly, cutting off Ruby. Closing her mouth, Ruby thought for a moment. An idea popped into her head and she grinned.

"C'mon, follow me," pulling the heiress along, Ruby headed towards her destination. It wasn't long before the two of them stood before a door and Ruby opened it, holding it for Weiss to enter.

Weiss quirked an eyebrow at her partner. "A classroom, really?" Ruby shrugged and headed to the back of the room, spreading a blanket out on the floor behind the desks.

"Well, there won't be any classes in here for a few hours, so we can be alone for a while," glancing up at Weiss, Ruby stuck out her bottom lip. "Please? It's here or the cafeteria." Giving in, Weiss sat down and took the sandwich held out for her. A calm silence formed as they enjoyed their food, leaning against each other while they ate. Finishing first, Ruby scooted closer, slipping under Weiss' free arm and rested her head against the heiress' shoulder. Weiss shifted so she could keep eating but tightened her hold on her partner, making Ruby smile at her happily. "This is nice."

Nodding, Weiss ate her last bite of sandwich and wiped her hand clean before capturing one of Ruby's and intertwining their fingers. "It does beat eating with Yang, especially with that silly bet of hers going on." Ruby wrinkled her forehead in confusion.

"What bet?"

"Apparently Yang and our friends are betting on when we'll get together. Blake told me about it this morning," catching the question in Ruby's eyes, Weiss kept explaining. "We spoke before you and Yang got up, and she filled me in. She knows about us, by the way."

Ruby gaped at her partner. "Blake knows? How, did you tell her?"

"No way! She just happened to catch me-" Blushing, Weiss glanced away.

"She caught you doing what?" Ruby squeezed their connected hands until Weiss looked back at her.

"Blake may have caught me giving you a good morning kiss on the forehead," rushing the end of her sentence, Weiss tried to ignore Ruby's giant grin and pink cheeks.

"A good morning kiss when I'm sleeping? That's not fair, Weiss," sliding out of the heiress' arm, Ruby straddled her lap and looked down at her.

Tilting her head up, Weiss looked at Ruby as her free hand found her partner's. "How is it not fair?" Ruby leaned forward to rest her forehead against Weiss' and smiled as they both blushed.

"I don't kiss you when you're sleeping, even when I really, really want to."

Weiss smirked at the rumbled comment. "If you start, keep an eye out for our sharp-eyed roommate. I wouldn't hold it past her to try to embarrass us later."

"Will do." Leaning closer, Ruby paused. "C-can I start now? Cause I really, really want to right now," Weiss flushed a shade darker, but nodded slightly and closed her eyes. Letting her own eyes flutter shut, Ruby slowly moved to close the last inch and-

"I'm telling you, Bartholomew, I don't know what's wrong with people now! Back when I was a youngster, people had real respect for huntsmen!"

Jerking back, Ruby whipped her head around at the familiar voice of a professor. Glancing at wide-eyed her partner, Ruby silently thanked the desks for hiding them from view. Letting go of Weiss, Ruby crawled a few feet to peek around the desks at the two men who had entered the room.

"Times change, Peter," stopping at his desk, Oobleck gathered a handful of papers and rapidly flipped through them. "And I believe there is still a respect for huntsmen. Unfortunately, Ms. Rose isn't a full huntress yet so there's only so much we can do." Tensing at her name, Ruby glanced at Weiss as she joined her partner to peer at their professors.

Port huffed. "I just don't understand why they are pushing for her expulsion."

"Neither do I. Ozpin was able to get them to agree to delay her test for a month, at the very least."

"Pah, a month? She's healing fast, but at this rate there's no way she'll be ready to prove she can still be a huntress by then," Port's mustache twitched as he walked towards the door. "The poor girl can barely walk by herself."

Holding a few papers, Oobleck nodded. "True. It's a shame, but I fear that this will be her only year at Beacon..." The rest of the conversation was lost as the classroom's door swung shut behind them.

It took a minute for Weiss to remember to breathe. Reaching for her partner, she frowned when Ruby's hand didn't find hers. "Ruby?" Focused on the ground, Ruby grit her teeth and blinked away some tears. Weiss laid a hand on her shoulder, only to have it shaken off as Ruby stood suddenly, the white rose on her cloak bouncing as she rushed out of the room. "Ruby!"

* * *

"Ruby, slow down!"

A tug on her hand forced Ruby to slow her limping power walk. Glancing at her partner's worried face, Ruby looked away quickly. "Weiss, let go."

"No," taking a step closer, Weiss tightened her grip. "Don't take what the professors said seriously. They haven't seen how much you've improved already." Ruby nodded absently.

"Maybe you're right. I'll be fine, thanks Weiss," smiling a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, Ruby pulled her hand free. "I think I'm gonna go study by myself for a bit. I'll see you later." Turning quickly, Ruby slowly walked away from Weiss.

"Wait, I'll come with you," taking a few steps after Ruby, Weiss froze at the girl's sharp cry.

"No!" Shoulders stiff, Ruby shook her head. "I-I just really want to be alone for a while. Bye."

Frozen in place, Weiss watched her partner leave her behind. "Ruby..."

"Weiss? Are you alright?" Pyrrha's concerned voice drew the heiress from her stupor, and her eye focused on the redhead and her blond partner. Blinking, Weiss looked at them blankly. "You've been standing there for a few minutes. Is something wrong, do you need help?"

Jaune nodded at his teammate's offer. "Yeah, want us to go get Ruby and the rest of your team for you?"

Jolting at the name, Weiss' eye traveled down the hall, searching for that telltale red cloak. It was long gone. "Ruby." Weiss shook her head violently, eyes narrowing as she took off down the corridor, shoving past Jaune.

Waving his arms to keep his balance, Jaune stared after the running girl. "What the heck was that about?" Shrugging, Pyrrha watched until the heiress disappeared around a corner.

"I am not sure, but I'm beginning to think we may want to change our guesses for Yang's bet."

* * *

Racing through the building, Weiss searched for any sign of Ruby. She vaulted a bench and ran outside, barely slowing when small raindrops hit her face. Eye scanning the grounds, she sent her aura rushing out to aid her search. There, that soft touch of petals. Adjusting her direction, Weiss ran into the garden and quickly spotted a familiar figure. Shifting her arms slightly, she didn't slow down when she reached her target.

"Wha-" Ruby's eyes widened as pale arms wrapped around her, lifting her off the ground in a bridal carry. "Weiss?!" Wrapping her arms around the heiress' neck, she watched as Weiss' cheeks turned red from exertion. "What are you doing? Put me down, you can't carry-"

"Shut up!" Weiss kept running until they were safely under a tree, out of the rain. Panting, the heiress glared down at the girl in her arms. "What were you thinking, leaving me behind? We are partners, Ruby, we'll always be there for each other. So don't you dare think that I'm going to let you go off by yourself to be depressed about what someone said. That's not the Ruby Rose I fell in love with!"

Resting her face against Weiss' shoulder, Ruby nodded, blinking away the last of her tears. "You're right. Sorry I tried to ditch you, it won't happen again." Glancing up, Ruby smiled at the heiress' smirk.

"It better not," Weiss' arms shook slightly, and she crumpled to the ground under Ruby. "Ugh, either I need to work out more or you need to eat less cookies," laughing, she ran a hand slowly over Ruby's cheek.

Ruby leaned into the touch and giggled. "I thought you were going to drop me right away," sitting up and shifting, Ruby pulled Weiss with her so they both could lean against the tree. "I'm really impressed you could carry me at all."

"Rooming with Yang does have a few advantages. I paid attention whenever she'd pick up you or Blake, so I was sure I knew the right technique at the very least." Listening to the rain pitter-patter against the plants and ground, a wry smile found its way to Weiss' face. "Though if this tree hadn't been so close we probably would have ended up laying on the path." Giggling at the thought, Ruby leaned against her partner.

Intertwining their fingers, Ruby shifted to face her partner. "Thanks, Weiss, for coming after me." Fidgeting for a moment, she leaned forward quickly to give Weiss a quick peck on the lips. "T-that's for earlier, before we were interrupted," Ruby smiled at her flushed partner. "Can we do it again?" Nodding slowly, Weiss closed her eyes as Ruby drew closer. Waiting for a touch that didn't come, Weiss opened her eye to glare at her sheepishly grinning partner. "Sorry, I thought someone was going to show up again, since that keeps happening. I guess the rain's keeping everyone inside, which is good for us, huh? So, then-" her babbling ended as pale hands grabbed onto her cloak's collar.

"Ruby, shut up and kiss me," Weiss growled, dragging Ruby close. Letting herself be pulled in, Ruby was more than happy to follow Weiss' command.


	17. Chapter 17

"Yang, what are you doing?"

Tensing at the voice, Yang glanced up at her partner. "Nothing," grinning sheepishly, she went back to squinting out the rain-drenched window. Blake sighed and crouched next to the blonde. Looking through the glass, the faunus could just barely make out two shapes under a tree. "I thought I saw Ruby out there, but I'm not sure." A few minutes were spent quietly looking out the window until Blake focused on her partner instead. Kneeling on the floor, the blonde had her nose pressed against the glass, brow furrowed as she tried to decide if she had actually seen her sister.

"How about you stop trying to find Ruby and just come to lunch? You didn't eat earlier," stretching as she stood up, Blake smiled at her partner.

Forcing her eyes away from the glass, Yang looked at the offered hand. "Yeah, okay," letting herself be pulled up, she laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "It probably wasn't Ruby anyway. Nobody would want to be out in the rain." Blake nodded.

"Of course not. I'm sure the two of them are hanging out somewhere inside."

"'The two of them'?" Yang glanced at her faunus partner. "Oh, you mean Ruby and Weiss. Yeah, they're probably together, huh?" A frown formed on her lips, quickly replaced by a grin. "You should be worried. With the amount of time they spend together, I'm gonna win the bet!"

"Oh yeah?" Smirking, Blake raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, how about you put your money where your mouth is, then? Let's make it fifty Lien," Blake flashed a smile. "Unless of course, you're chicken?"

Yang thumped her chest with a hand and laughed. "Me, chicken? Never! I accept, and will happily take your money when I win." Throwing an arm around a grinning Blake, she steered them towards the cafeteria.

"Good to hear, Yang." Looking at her partner, it was all Blake could do to not purr. It wasn't until they were sitting down with their food that Yang froze and glanced curiously at her.

"Wait, didn't you bet that they're already together?"

* * *

"We need to get up."

"Nope."

"Ruby, the rain's stopped and we have to get to class."

"No."

"Ruby, if you don't get up, then there's no kisses for a week," trying to look as serious as possible, Weiss glared at the girl curled up next to her. Pleading silver eyes met stony blues, and Ruby sighed in defeat.

"Fine." Sitting up, she held out a hand to help the heiress up from the grass. "I think we should stay here though."

Taking the offered hand, Weiss sat up and frowned as she brushed loose grass and dirt off her once white clothes. "If we stayed here any longer, I don't know if my clothes would ever come clean. I'm going to have to change before class."

"Why?" Slowly standing, Ruby tilted her head to look at her sitting partner.

"Look at my clothes!" Rolling her eyes, Weiss gestured to the green and brown spots on her skirt. "How could I explain this to people?"

Ruby blinked in confusion. "Uh, you were sitting outside?"

"And then how do I explain why I was sitting outside, you dolt?" Weiss scoffed and stood, catching Ruby's hand in her own as she walked towards the buildings. "Come on, let's hurry back to the dorm so we won't be late." Shaking her head, Ruby looked at the ground.

"Actually, I think it'd be better if you went by yourself," smiling ruefully, she patted her leg. "I'm gonna walk around some more."

"Are you sure? I can come with you if you want," Weiss' bossy tone disappeared, replaced with concern. "I'll just change later."

Ruby shook her head. "No, go change. I just want to try to get used to this leg some more." A pale hand settled on the cloaked girl's shoulder.

"Don't overdo it. You'll be ready for the test, I know you will," glancing around and seeing no one, Weiss gave Ruby a peck on the cheek. "I'll change quickly and come find you."

Ruby smiled as she watched the heiress walk away. Turning, she started to walk towards a building. The rhythmic crunch of her boots on gravel was comforting, and only a bit slower than she was used to. Concentrating on the sound, Ruby forced her legs to move faster, until she heard the familiar sound of her footsteps. Smiling at the small victory, she pumped her arms and started a slow jog. She made it three steps before the metal limb gave out, crumpling beneath her. Gritting her teeth, Ruby stood and dusted herself off, glaring at her leg for a moment before she restarted her slow walk to the building.

* * *

Smoothing out her skirt, Weiss gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror. Giving her clean reflection a nod of approval, she smiled and swept out of team RWBY's dorm room. Rushing out the door, Weiss slammed into a tall figure. Weiss felt her body start falling backwards as she quickly jerked away from the body.

"Oof," rough hands caught Weiss and kept her upright. "Hey there, Snowflake. In a bit of a rush?" Regaining her balance, the heiress looked up at the grinning huntress. Clare let go after a moment and took a step back. "Can we talk for a minute?"

Weiss nodded. "As long as it's quick."

"It'll be quick. Just wanted to tell you that you're done with your night training," patting her jacket pockets, Clare pulled out a small box. "You've healed enough we could pick it back up, but it's not necessary. I think you've got a handle on seeing with your aura, and there's not much left I was going to teach you. So here's a congratulations gift." Dropping the box into Weiss' hand, the tall woman's eyes crinkled behind her sunglasses as she grinned.

''Why?" Turning it over in her hand, Weiss looked up in confusion.

Clare shrugged. "One of Glyn's books said to reward students for doing well. Figured this could be of use to you. It's-" the click on a doorknob drew her attention, and she took a step away. "Well, you'll see. I should go before Glyn realizes I'm gone. See you later, Snowflake." Throwing a wave over her shoulder, Clare trotted away, turning a corner just as the door opened fully.

"Hello Weiss," stepping out of his room Ren nodded at the heiress. He glanced down the hall. "Where you speaking with someone?"

Nodding, Weiss started to walk away from the rooms. "Yes, but she had to go."

"What's that?" Ren asked, looked at the box still in Weiss' hand.

Glancing at the unopened box, Weiss slipped it into her pocket. "Nothing important." Ren fell into step next to her and Weiss looked up at him. Noticing his damp hair, she tried not to smile. "Did Nora spill on you again?" His heavy sigh confirmed her guess, and she giggled at his exasperated face.

"She was eating pancakes and managed to break a container of syrup over my head," Ren smiled slightly and glanced at Weiss. "It's tough when you're in love with an energetic girl, isn't it?"

Laughing, Weiss nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Ruby can be such a handfu-" freezing in place, Weiss stared at Ren. "How did you know?"

"I pay attention," waiting for the heiress to move again, Ren pushed his hair out of his eyes. "And you just confirmed it. It's not my place to tell others though."

Relaxing as he spoke, Weiss sighed softly. "Thanks." A few minutes passed silently as they walked towards the class building before she spoke again. "So, are you and Nora...?" Ren shook his head.

"Not yet. Maybe someday," reaching for the classroom door, Ren paused and looked at Weiss. "I'm not going to rush you, but it will make Nora and everyone else really happy when you tell them. Just think about it." Not waiting for a response, he pulled the door open led them into the room full of their friends.

* * *

Green eyes peered past glasses to take in the scene before her. An eyebrow quirked in amusement as Glynda watched the nervous students stare at the odd faunus' demonstration. Too far away to hear her low rumbling voice, the professor instead followed the exaggerated movements of Clare's body as she explained the day's combat exercise. The slight smile slipped from Glynda's lips when she remembered why she was standing so far away. "She should know better than to try something like that again," muttering to herself, the blonde missed the sound of footsteps behind her. A calm voice jerked her attention away from the huntress.

"Has Ms. Quartz been up to something I should know about?" Stopping next to the surprised woman, Ozpin kept his eyes on the class.

Recovering quickly, Glynda shook her head. "No, it wasn't anything bad. Just..." Biting her lip, she focused on Clare. "Just something that she shouldn't have tried to bring up." Ozpin hummed a quiet acknowledgement.

"It sounds like you two have much to straighten out," Ozpin watched the tall huntress correct a student's stance and shoo team RWBY away. "I've decided on Ms. Rose's fitness test." Looking over at the headmaster, Glynda waited for an explanation but was met with silence.

"Sir...?"

"See that she's ready for a battle. She has to prove herself soon," turning on his heel, Ozpin headed for the door. Staring after him for a few moments, Glynda shifted her attention back to the room, coming face to face with a familiar grin.

Sighing, Glynda lifted a hand and gave Clare a light push. "We've talked about personal space before."

"True, doesn't mean I have to listen though," turning to keep an eye on the students, Clare took a half-step away from the blonde. "Did Ozpin need something, or was he just keeping an eye on me?" Glynda's eyes fell on Ruby.

"He's decided on Ms. Rose's test."

Clare nodded slowly. "It's a fight, isn't it?"

"You think she'll be ready?" Frowning, the professor watched her companion for old tells. The faunus mulled her answer over, tilting her head to crack her neck and running a hand through her hair. Knowing Clare was deciding between an answer she thought Glynda wanted to hear and the truth, the blonde waited for the sign. Still hands, a lie. Touching her arm, the truth.

Putting her hands in her pockets, the taller huntress scanned the room before answering. "Little Red'll be fine. She'll be ready."

"Clare," leaving the other words unsaid, Glynda stared at the other woman until she scowled and shuffled in place.

"She's in pain, and I doubt she'll figure out how to get over it before the fight," glancing at her own metal limb, Clare ran a hand over her shoulder and down the arm, threading her fingers together. "Her leg isn't responding how she's used to, and she hasn't come to terms with it yet. You can't just pretend everything is back to normal, that you're just a little injured," hands clenching together, the huntress followed Ruby with her eyes. The creak of metal drew Glynda's eyes down, falling on a reddening hand.

"Couldn't you talk with her, give some more advice?" Moving slowly, the professor reached out and tugged the faunus' hands apart, carefully pulling the metal fingertips out of torn flesh.

Clare glanced down and flared her aura. "It wouldn't help. Words are nice, but they don't fix things," waiting until the skin healed, the faunus quickly clenched and unclenched her fist. "She has to figure things out by herself." Glynda frowned as she watched the movement, but a flash of color pulled her eyes up and brought a small smile to her lips.

"Miss Rose won't be figuring things out by herself," raising her hand, the professor pointed at a laughing Ruby walking with her team. "She has her friends to rely on. She'll be ready." Following the finger, Clare watched the teens with a half grin.

"I guess we'll see."

* * *

A/N: Had some issues figuring out how I wanted to get from point A to point B, but finally decided on something that worked.


End file.
